Guiding Eyes for the Blind hosted its second annual wine tasting event at its headquarters in Yorktown Heights, where blind sommelier provided guests with personal wine consultations.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an internationally accredited nonprofit guide dog school headquartered in Yorktown Heights, hosted its Second Annual Wine Tasting with blind sommelier Amy Dixon and her guide dog, Elvis, on October 16. The event raised almost $10,000 for the school.
Attendees received a tour of Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s facility at 611 Granite Springs Road and watched training demonstrations by the organization’s elite guide dogs. Zachys Wine & Liquor in Scarsdale sponsored the event and donated top wines from the Piedmont region of Italy, which raised money for Guiding Eyes’ programs and services. Event guests took home a guide to wine selections, with VIP attendees receiving a list of wine hand-selected by Dixon and a personal wine consultation.
Blind sommelier Amy Dixon and her guide dog, Elvis, hosted Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s Second Annual Wine Tasting. Courtesy Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
A certified wine specialist from the Society of Wine Educators, Dixon is studying to be a Master of Wine, of which there are only 212 in the world-a mere dozen of them women.
Since 1954, Guiding Eyes has provided more than 7,000 specially bred and trained guide dogs to those with visual impairment. More recently, in 2008, the school introduced a program called Heeling Autism that provides service dogs to children with autism. In 2011, Guiding Eyes launched its One Step Ahead campaign, a fundraising drive to raise $8 million to build a world-class puppy-training academy in Patterson.
For more information on the school, visit www.guidingeyes.org.
