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Caroline Granger is a Get Involved type of woman. She’s the hands-on boss at the Grange of Prince Edward, the County’s largest grape grower and winery but she lends her energies and enthusiasm to causes far beyond her own family, property and business. She’s already a director and chairman of the Governance Committee of of Farm Credit Canada, chair of Taste the County and chair of Alternatives for Women in the County. Now she’s gone and joined the Army.
Okay, not really. But Caroline Granger has created her own mission to raise $50,000 to support Ontario’s military family resource centres; not for profit organizations located on every base across Canada that support local military families.
Why this? Why now? Not long ago she and her 14-year old son Quinton were on the 401 just ahead of a procession carrying a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan. People stood on bridges along the route from CFB Trenton to Toronto holding Canadian flags to honour the soldier making the final journey down the “Highway of Heroes,” and she and Quinton got talking about what it would be like to be a military family.
“I got a whole different viewpoint that day,” she says, perhaps more sensitive suddenly to what military families must be experiencing.’ Rather than just feeling sad, Caroline decided to do something positive. “There is always something you can do to help,” she says. Her one-year battle plan is to donate 50 cents from every bottle of Trumpour’s Mill wine sold in LCBOs and $1 from each bottle sold in restaurants to local Military Family Resource Centres.
If you were to praise her for this admirable sacrifice, she’s likely to respond “Sacrifice? What sacrifice.” She and we know that most of us will never make the kind of sacrifices our military families make.
The $50,000 she hopes to raise will flow like good wine into special programs for children, spouses and social support systems. To paraphrase the Blood Donor motto ‘it’s in her to give.’ To Caroline, who spends as much time in the vineyard as she does in board rooms at this time of year, it’s a natural thing to do.
“The least we can do is help make sure their families are okay,” she says. “I think soldiers appreciate that.”
WIN A SUMMER IN PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY
Clearly, the group was convinced. After tasting several wines with owners Ed Neuser and Rita Kaimins, they purchased Waupoos Riesling and Baco Noir to enjoy with their dinner the next night. Italy’s ambassador to Argentina declared the Baco Noir 2007 among the best he had ever tasted. “That made me proud,” said Neuser. “I already know it’s good, but it’s nice coming from someone who knows his wine.” 