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Home > What's New > Cigar Toast Aids Dominican Republic
Cigar Toast Aids Dominican Republic
Posted: Monday, November 24, 2003
By Michael S. Marsh Cigars and charity came together on Saturday night when more than 5,000 cigar lovers in 107 tobacco shops representing all 50 states raised their glasses -- and their cigars -- in a gesture of goodwill to the people of the Dominican Republic. The Toast Across America, which was sponsored by the Fuente and Newman cigar families, raised $250,000 for the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the humanitarian needs of the children of the Dominican Republic.
Carlos Fuente Jr., president of Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia., was at the Grand Havana Room in Manhattan, where guests enjoyed dinner, drinks and special OpusX and Diamond Crown Maximus cigars. He described the occasion as a "model for all people to follow."
"The greatest resource in the Dominican Republic is the children and their future," Fuente said to those in attendance, which included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. "My dreams came true in the Dominican Republic and we have a responsibility to give back to those who aren't as fortunate as us. Together we will make a difference."
The Cigar Family Charitable Foundation is building a community center in Caribe, near Chateau de la Fuente, the farm where Fuente grows wrapper tobacco for its Fuente Fuente OpusX cigars. The center, which will include a sports complex, medical facility, school and recreation center, will reside on 23 acres of land purchased by the foundation and will be called the Cigar Family Community Complex. The money raised from the Toast Across America event will benefit the project.
The foundation, established in 2001 by the Fuente and Newman families, was designed to aid the people of the Dominican Republic. It has raised more than $450,000 from auctions and donations.
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