Astoria, NY -Paul Serelis of Vintage, a cafe-wine bar in Astoria, started a charity of the month initiative after his business was only a month old.
His wife was working for a blue ribbon school at the time that was running out of supplies and Paul wanted to help out. He started designating 33% of the proceeds of the wines of the month for the school, and the initiative was born.
"I wanted the money to go directly to a [cause] and know the place where it's going," he says.
Serelis started Vintage in 2017 in the space formerly occupied by Waltz-Astoria, a performance space. He says there was nothing to do in that area of Astoria and had been eyeing it for some time. When he opened up Vintage, championing good causes and local community events, such as a monthly poetry night, seemed to go hand-in-hand with offering a relaxed venue for local wine and craft beers.
In July, Vintage honored CIANA as its charity of the month for our work with local immigrants while children were being ripped from their families at the United States' southern border.
Vintage, we salute you as our neighbor and ally standing for immigrant rights and welfare in our local community.