Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival Recap - September 14th and 15th

The sun was shining, the chocolate was flowing… well, it was a little melty, anyway (see the previous comment about the sun), but that didn't stop anybody from having an amazing time at the 18th Annual Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival on Beach street.

With the America's Cup racing boats behind us on the water, the foot traffic was better than usual this year. We talked with hundreds of chocolate fans - Bay Area natives, chocolate enthusiasts from across the country, and even visitors from as far away as Canada and Europe! (Now, these folks are REALLY dedicated to their chocolate addiction!)
 

Family House volunteers and staff were invited by our friends at Personality Hotels to share their booth on Sunday. The event's proceeds benefit Project Open Hand, a San Francisco nonprofit that is dedicated to feeding people with life-threatening illnesses; and so we were excited to have an opportunity to tell event attendees about the Family House mission - providing free, temporary housing to families of children with life-threatening illnesses. It was a great way to tell LOTS of people about Family House, and make new friends.

We talked with everyone who came by about Family House, and about Personality Hotels' new "Save Me, San Francisco" hotel package.  Personality Hotels came up with this great idea to help support Family House. When you stay at one of their fantastic boutique San Francisco hotels, you can add on the "Save Me, San Francisco" package, which includes a bottle of Train's award-winning Soul Sister Pinot Noir, two wine-pairing bars of Ghirardelli/Save Me, San Francisco Chocolate, late checkout (after your night on the town!), and a direct cash donation to Family House.

 This package brings together support and love from Personality Hotels and from the Save Me, San Francisco Wine Company - what could be better?  Chocolate Festival VIPs had a chance to taste some Save Me, San Francisco Wine in the Cadillac Wine and Chocolate Pavilion - and event volunteers there were able to tell the story about how rock band Train found Family House and how they've been incredible supporters ever since!  If chocolate equals love, man, this day was one serious love fest!

Big shout outs to Personality Hotels, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Train, and the Save Me, San Francisco Wine Company, and to all our friends that we saw at the chocolate festival - Three Twins Ice Cream, the San Francisco Bulls, and of course, Project Open Hand and all our new friends that we made that day!

Ready to book your stay at a Personality Hotel? Click here to add a Save Me, San Francisco package! http://info.personalityhotels.com/blog/bid/187364/Save-Me-San-Francisco

You can get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html