Our People Get Out and About in the Community, Too

In my last post, I wrote about the ways that 4.0 Cellars supports the community and my surprise at how far that support extends beyond the Hill Country. As I wrote that post, I wondered about my colleagues’ work in their own communities. So, I asked them. Turns out that our 4.0 staff is involved in our communities in some pretty amazing ways.

First, you need to know that we don’t all live in Fredericksburg. In fact, we hail from many different towns: Blanco, Mason, Johnson City, Stonewall, Spring Branch, Kerrville, Ingram, Mountain Home, Kyle, Dripping Springs, Marble Falls, Harper, Canyon Lake, and Center Point. We’ve even had coworkers drive from as far away as San Antonio. (Side note: 4.0 must be a pretty great place to work if people are willing to drive an hour or more to do so.)

Second, many of my coworkers are enjoying retirement but spent much of their “previous lives” engaged in volunteer work and board service that correlated with their careers. And many of us currently support our communities by shopping locally, attending fundraisers, and giving in-kind and monetary donations to a range of local nonprofit organizations, including the churches that we attend.

Third, we all support our local wine industry by visiting other wineries and generally drinking as much wine as we can. One of our colleagues supports our wine industry at the state level as well by serving on committees for the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association (TWGGA) and the Texas Hill Country Wineries group.

But when I asked my colleagues to share their volunteer work and service to nonprofits, I was shocked by the depth and breadth of the time and effort they give to their communities. One gives over 130 hours each year to the Fredericksburg Farmers Market. Two work with Meals on Wheels in their towns. Two others work countless hours with a Fredericksburg nonprofit that donates formal wear to girls and women from all over the Hill Country. And another manages all of the paperwork for a Christian retreat center that hosts people, particularly children, year round from all over the state.

In fact, we’re so involved in our communities that it's easier to list the organizations with which we serve rather than to try to fully describe our volunteer work. So here goes:

• Hill Country University Center Foundation Board
• Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce
• Fredericksburg Dog Park Association
• Pioneer Museum (Fredericksburg)
• Sisterhood for Good (Fredericksburg)
• Gillespie County Health and Human Services
• Pedernales Creative Arts Alliance
• Gillespie County Historical Society
• Johnson City School Board
• Johnson City Community Education Foundation Board
• Johnson City Athletic Boosters
• Johnson City Women’s Civic Club
• Mason County Chamber of Commerce
• Mason County Historical Society
• Senior Citizens Council (Mason)
• Odeon Theater Preservation Association (Mason)
• Mason County Appraisal Review Board
• Ft. Mason Golf Association

See what I mean? And I’m sure there’s much more going on that some of my colleagues didn’t share with me. So, it’s not just the company that we work for that’s busy doing good. It’s also the company that we keep.