When the North Haven Rotary Club couldn’t hold its annual Wine, Stein & Roses event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, members had to get creative in order to continue fundraising for the various efforts the Rotary supports. While the Rotary is hoping that Wine, Stein & Roses will be able to held this spring, it’s still not a guarantee so the club is bringing back the Restaurants & Roses Raffle.

“The Wine and Roses event has been our biggest fundraiser for the past 20 years and we lost that with COVID, along with the road race and our pancake breakfast,” said Theresa Ranciato-Viele, president of the North Haven Rotary Club. “The Rotary spends all of the money it makes in the community and after Restaurants and Roses raised $18,000 last year, we’d like to kick it up a little bit.”

Raffle sales will be limited to 2,000 tickets with the grand prize winner set to receive $3,000 in gift cards—$100 gift cards to 30 different restaurants. Second-place will receive 30, $50 gift cards and 3rd- to 10th-place will win a $100 gift card to a restaurant of their choice. All of the gift cards have been purchased by the Rotary.

Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased online or from members of the Rotary Club. The drawing will be held on Monday, Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. on the North Haven Green with First Selectman Mike Freda drawing the winners.

“Much like last year, we know some of the restaurants are still suffering so we wanted to help them by purchasing gift cards,” said Ranciato-Viele. “For $20, it’s a great way to support the Rotary Club, the restaurants, and most importantly, the North Haven community.”

Restaurants included are Adelphia, Amarone’s, Ayuthai, Bin 100, Bellini’s, Bitty Bites, Bread & Chocolate, Carbone’s Deli, Cast Iron, Country Food Market, Dino’s, Gagliardi’s, Goodfellas, La Lupa, Hard Hat, Inferno Pizza, Infinite Nutrition, JRoos, Liuzzi Gourmet Food, Lorenzo’s, Luce Ristorante, Ludal’s Restaurant, Mangia Pizza, Modern Apizza, Mozzicato Bakery, Osteria Viron Rondo, Portofino’s, Stellato’s, Torito, and Vino Rosso.

When choosing the restaurants to be included, the Rotary Club focused on those that have been supporters of the club’s Wine, Stein & Roses event. Some of the restaurants have been involved since the inaugural fundraiser 20 years ago. The club is also featuring new restaurants that it hopes will support future fundraisers.

“Some are really long-haul donors to the Rotary Club who have given freely for years, some are Rotary Club members’ favorites who we hope jump in and help in the future,” said Ranciato-Viele. “Luce and Goodfellas have been there from the beginning, providing food and coming and serving at the events. Chris at Dino’s has given up his time and his employees’ time to be there and serve.”

Over the past year, the North Haven Rotary Club raised $45,000 for the food banks in the community with the help of the club’s partner Liberty Bank. In addition to donating to the local food pantries, the Rotary Club supports a host of other local organizations and non-profits, including the Ulbrich Boys and Girls Club, the Marc Casella Foundation, NHTV, Daytime Gardeners of North Haven, Peters Rock Association, Eli Whitney Museum (Jack Viele Scholarship), St. Jude’s, Ronald McDonald House, Columbus House, Animal Have, Soul Friends, Where’s the Love, Fellowship Place, Friends Committee for Children, North Haven Girls’ Rugby, St. Martin de Porres, North Haven Substance Abuse Council, Community Emergency Response Team, North Haven Senior Center, North Haven Education Foundation, and the North Haven Rotary Foundation, which provides scholarships to North Haven High School students.

“These 22 organizations provide assistance, education, sustenance, and fun to many in our town and our region,” said Ranciato-Viele. “What we do is really important and we’re trying to join together with other groups out there to do good. We need your support—buy a ticket and show your support for all the restaurants you love and for the charities we support. We can’t give this level of support unless we get support ourselves.”

For information or to purchase tickets, visit rb.gy/5tay2v.