We know our responsibilities to our community and are pleased to help when we can. In fact, we have been recognized nationally for our philanthropy (see the Market Watch magazine article below).

Due to the hundreds of donation requests we receive each year, we must limit our consideration to customers and organizations who are members of our Customer Appreciation Program (CAP). If you are a member of CAP, please ask for a charitable donation request form in our store.

If you are not already a member of CAP, please ask for details so that your future request can be considered. All requests are reviewed once a month, so please allow a minimum of 30 days for our response. We will contact you as soon as your request has been processed.

---

Charity Chicago style:

The brother and sister team at Schaefer's has built

a charitable reputation on Chicago's North Shore

By H. Lee Murphy (Reprinted with permission by Market Watch magazine)

The deluge of mail from various charities and non-profit organizations to homes and businesses is common across the nation. These pleas for donations are widely regarded as junk mail, and, by the best estimates, most of such correspondence gets pitched in the garbage.

However, at Schaefer's Wines, Foods & Spirits in Skokie, Ill., a northern suburb of Chicago, a curious thing happens: The solicitations are carefully noted and filed, and a simple follow-up call from any of the charities is usually enough to trigger a contribution from the store, either an in-kind donation or a check from co-owners George J. Schaefer Jr. and Gene Flynn.

The two, who were named Market Watch Leaders in 1986, by Market Watch magazine, hardly ever refuse any worthwhile cause. In the world of fundraising, you could call them "easy touches."

"We get at least a dozen requests a week for help, and we almost always will give something, even if it's just minimal," says Flynn, vice-president of Schaefer's, who has co-owned the single-location business with her younger brother since 1977. Adds Schaefer, who carries the title of president, "I've never been good at saying 'no' to somebody who needs our help."

Close to two dozen local organizations have been lucky enough to garner the duo's full attention, which usually involves sitting on steering committees, donating wine for fundraising events, working in soup kitchens and hiring disadvantaged people to work in the store itself.

Schaefer and Flynn have volunteered incalculable amounts of time and money to local schools and churches, colleges and art groups, and various support groups devoted to everything from Alzheimer's patient care to shelters for battered women. They aren't shy about rolling up their sleeves and working side-by-side with social workers and instructors to give a boost to troubled children or adults.

Market Watch estimates that, personally and through the business, they have donated cash and in-kind services exceeding $500,000. For their wide array of interests and long hours spent on charitable work, Schaefer and Flynn are this year's recipients of the 2004 Market Watch Leaders "Community Service Award."

A HARD ROAD

Many of these good works have come during a difficult time at Schaefer's, which posted revenues in excess of $8 million in 2003. The 20,000-square-foot store, which was inherited from the siblings' parents who had operated it since George Schaefer Sr. purchased a tavern on the site in 1936 and turned it into a store in 1945, has fought rising competition from a host of new rivals.

Meanwhile, Schaefer Jr. was stricken with prostate cancer five years ago and then leukemia a year ago, which, after a six-month course of chemotherapy, is now in remission. Both Schaefer and Flynn have become increasingly reliant on Schaefer's daughter Anje, who started in the business five years ago after earning an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Regis University in Denver and working a grape harvest at Alexander Valley Vineyards in Sonoma. While Schaefer retains his title, 29-year-old Anje currently carries the title of COO and has taken on a growing responsibility for day-to-day administration.

But the brother-and-sister team still outworks most of the staff. Schaefer logs 60 to 70 hours a week at the store, time that is spread out over seven days. He spends 20 to 25 hours a month on various charities, and the store underwrites $35,000 or more in various contributions each year. Considerable personal donations by both are added to that figure.

Employees often are encouraged to join in these philanthropic efforts. Schaefer's has "adopted" a half-mile stretch of nearby Crawford Avenue, which requires the owners and as many employees who want to take part to walk up and down the parkway for part of a day twice a year to pick up trash. "Getting involved in work like that results in everybody feeling better about themselves," Schaefer says. "It's a lot different from the feeling you get in just writing somebody a check."

A NEW TWIST ON CHAMPAGNE TASTING

For years, Schaefer's staged a free "ChampagneFest" each December. About five years ago, the store hit on the idea of charging $10 to attend, donating the proceeds to the local fire department, which uses the money to provide food and gifts to needy families during the holidays. The event typically raises close to $3,000 a year and distributors throw in free Champagne. The ChampagneFest is typically held between Christmas and New Year's each year.

Flynn is in charge of refereeing most of the charitable inquiries. She became involved with a hospice organization called the Palliative CareCenter & Hospice of the North Shore in 1996 when a Schaefer's employee became terminally ill. Since then, Schaefer's has underwritten the wine and spirits for a half-dozen fundraisers. An event earlier this year for 200 people involved beverages from Schaefer's with a retail value exceeding $2,000. The event, called "Bye Bye Blues," was held Feb. 19 in the neighboring town of Winnetka.

Flynn also serves on the board of the North Shore Senior Center, where she has become involved in raising money for a daycare program for Alzheimer's patients. Overall, the center serves 35,000 individuals in 23 Chicago suburbs. An annual benefit, "House of Welcomes," draws 250 contributors and has attracted such big-name entertainers as Mickey Rooney and Red Buttons. At this event, which usually is held in September, beverages worth about $2,000 are underwritten by Schaefer's.

SUPPORT FOR THE DISADVANTAGED AND DISABLED

If there is a common thread running through Flynn's charitable work, it's a desire to support the disadvantaged. "People with physical, emotional or financial needs are important to us," she emphasizes.

Five years ago, a good customer of the store introduced the duo to an organization call Suburban Job-Link/STRIVE, which they have been hooked on ever since. The group helps the chronically unemployed -- many of them ex-convicts or ex-addicts -- find jobs. Schaefer spends an afternoon every six weeks conducting mock interviews with individuals to train and guide them on how to make a better impression with prospective employers. He is also on the board. Schaefer also has hired a dozen people from the program to work at Schaefer's, often in the stock room or at the cash register.

"Schaefer donates money, but it's even more important that he donates his time and business resources to us," says Mary Anne Edwards, former vice president of business development at Suburban Job-Link. "He's given some of our people their very first jobs when nobody else was willing to give them a chance. He also uses his contacts to find other local businesses willing to get involved." Schaefer donates about five hours a month to this organization, and about $2,000 a year, plus wine for their events.

In Chicago, Misericordia/Heart of Mercy offers a supportive residential center for more than 550 infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities. Each Christmas season, Schaefer's hires a half-dozen adults from the program to work in its warehouse to package more than 2,000 holiday gift baskets for customers.

An even larger Misericordia group is enlisted to package Schaefer's monthly wine club shipments, which include three wine bottles. Schaefer, who pays each worker minimum wage or piece rate, depending on the job, says members of the group rarely make a mistake. "We'd like to find more companies like Schaefer's willing to get involved like this," says Nicole Martin, employment specialist at Misericordia. Schaefer's paid Misericordia $4,000 last year for its workers, who are not on Schaefer's payroll. (They work at the store but they are considered contract workers, so pay is routed through Misericordia.)

From a similar Chicago organization called Orchard Village, Schaefer's has hired two full-time workers with mild developmental handicaps. One of these employees, Annie Clinton, spends her days cleaning glassware. "Annie does a first-rare job," Schaefer says. "Who else would spend five years here washing glasses and feel delighted to have the job? This is a win-win situation: We get good workers at reasonable pay scales and they have a real job that gives them a sense of fulfillment."

A benefit for Orchard Village is held each May, and the most recent event raised more than $200,000. Orchard Village received more than $5,000 in wine from Schaefer's for the event, though only $1,200 worth was provided free, the rest having been donated at wholesale prices.

The admiration for the Schaefers' community involvement is widespread around Chicago. "I wish everyone in the world could be like Gene," says Kimberly Lutz, director of regional resources at a group called WINGS (Women in Need Growing Stronger) in Illinois. Flynn serves on WINGS' advisory committee, hosting monthly meetings for committee members in Schaefer's winetasting room, as well as helping to raise money to support housing that the group acquires for homeless and abused women and their children.

"Gene was instrumental at a fundraiser we had in the summer of 2003 that raised more than $3,000, after she got a lot of her friends to show up and contribute," Lutz says. The event, a housewarming for the shelter, was held in July last year.

PHILANTHROPIC PERSPECTIVES

The organizations on the Schaefers' charity roster are too numerous to recount here. While some business owners volunteer with ulterior motives, figuring as they gather with powerful boards of directors and meet other leading businesspeople, their own sales will grow, that's not Schaefer's and Flynn's style. They've never tried to calculate whether their volunteerism has boosted their sales of wine, beer and spirits.

"It sounds corny, but I can truthfully say that I get much more than I give by this involvement," Schaefer says. "I really feel that sometimes I am impacting somebody's life who might otherwise fall through the cracks. I particularly like working with STRIVE, where I feel I can help people help themselves. Being a fisherman, I like the Chinese proverb, 'Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.' "