There are so many important causes in our community, in fact throughout the world. Many of my fellow wine and food aficionados support our favorite charities by donating ( and buying back) parts of our wine collections. Many charity events have been built around the theme of wine and food, and some have turned into weekend-long extravaganzas. For example, the now-famous South Beach Wine and Food Festival supports FIU. 
The Women’s Fund of Miami has a group called the Philanthropic Foodies. Diabetes Research Institute hosts a gourmet dinner and wine auction as one of their many fund raisers. Now all sorts of causes have caught on and I find myself donating to the Miami Children’s Hospital, Educate Tomorrow, The Miami Historical Museum, the MAM, the Science Museum, the Junior Orange Bowl and the “Greening of the Gables” initiative by the Coral Gables Community Foundation.
This past weekend was one of the oldest and worthiest, a huge Wine and Food Festival to benefit Camillus House and the United Way of Miami-Dade County. Camillus House has dedicated themselves to ending chronic homelessness, in fact hoping to make Miami the first large US city to do so. And of course the United Way reaches out to a huge population of needy and deserving citizens of our community.
The events kicked off with a dine-around food and wine tasting in the Village of Merrick Park last Thursday. At least 30 restaurants and 40 wineries participated in this amazing display of gourmet giving. Perhaps my favorite event however is the interactive cooking demonstration, where a celebrity chef leads as many as 56 tables of amateur chefs as they cook their own dinner for their table-mates. 
You can see I got a little carried away there on Friday night. Interestingly, the real estate market is heating up as much as my skillet, with two Brickell condos now under contract.
On Saturday night many of the same suspects returned to the Intercontinental ballroom for a fabulous auction of exotic trips, rare wines, gourmet meals, and fine jewelery. I want to congratulate the founders of this amazing event, Sue Gallagher and Bob Dickinson, for their dedication and tireless efforts. They are ably assisted by Michael Bittel of Sunset Corners. It is a great deal fun and very satisfying to give back to the community.