ASPEN LANE COMPANY IN AURORA Not that I don’t find opportunities all year-round to have a glass of wine, but there’s something about summer that calls for sitting on the deck and sharing a bottle with a friend.
You can talk about life, love, family and the impact you’d like to have on this world. Now, when you buy a bottle of Aspen Lane wine from the Aurora wine-making company, you can not only talk about your contribution to the world, you can actually participate.
When Bob Evanosky of Aurora was asked by his buddies if he would like to make some wine for fun, he agreed, and they began to make it in his garage, on his street – Aspen Lane. Friends and family all praised the wine and they began winning awards at the amateur level. Soon, the garage was being taken over by barrels of wine and the business started out-growing the space.
On the other end of the coin, Bob and his wife, Sonya, along with close friends, run The Evanosky Foundation, an organization created in 2005 after all three of their sons, John, Christopher and Jack (pictured) were diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). Their oldest son, John, just recently passed from complications of the disability just this past December at the age of 15. “The foundation’s goal is to generate money to fund research toward curing pediatric leukodystrophies, establish universal newborn screening, as well as to provide support and care for children and families affected by disabling pediatric conditions,” says Bob.
In running the foundation, Bob has made relationships with similar charity groups working with children and adults with disabilities. He began offering the wine up to them for free for any of their events or galas. “Someone eventually approached us and asked if we would like to sell the wine,” explains Bob. “We said, ‘yes, as long as we can give our profit away to these foundations.”
Today, they have moved their winery to a larger space and are selling the wine where they can at stores, bars, and restaurants along with online at www.aspenlanewinecompany.com. It is a social business enterprise as 100% of the profits go to their partner charities that support and care for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities.
Mindy’s July Giving Inspiration: Consider buying your next few bottles of wine for entertaining or gifts from the Aspen Lane Wine Company and know your dollars are going to a good cause.
ABOUT THE WRITER Mindy Kyle is the owner of Be Inspired Studios and is passionate about helping people discover what brings them joy and to live a full, healthy and happy life. She has her Masters in Fine Arts degree in creative writing from DePaul University and lives in Naperville with her husband, three children and the cutest dog in the land.
