Burnsville shop: Raising a glass to hope

A Burnsville coffee and wine shop is donating $1 to breast cancer efforts for each glass of Hope wine sold.

By JOY POWELL, Star Tribune

Last update: November 18, 2008 - 11:42 PM

This week in Burnsville, you can buy a glass of wine and help fight breast cancer at the same time. Jo Jo's Rise & Wine, on Nicollet Avenue just north of Burnsville Parkway, is donating $1 for every glass of Hope shiraz wine sold through Saturday. The money will go to the women's breast imaging center at Fairview Ridges Hospital, shop owners Johanna Hanssen and Mary Jo Stevens said.

The specially labeled wine is from the Hope Estate in western Australia. Released Oct. 1, the wine, called "Pink Awareness," has a fruity, spicy taste and comes in a bottle with a pink label and the familiar pink ribbon that represents the battle against breast cancer.

As a partner in the fundraiser, WineStyles retail store in Shakopee is offering a 20 percent discount on the wine if those who taste it at Jo Jo's want to buy some: That's $144 per case or $15 per single bottle, said Jill Horstman, co-owner of the shop at 8076 Old Carriage Court. Her mother-in-law died of breast cancer.

Hope Estate intends to donate $60,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Hanssen and Stevens said they knew they wanted to raise money for breast cancer awareness, so they talked with Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, who has survived bouts with breast and uterine cancer and now is helping her husband in his fight against advanced colon cancer. Kautz helped Hanssen and Stevens set up the fundraiser, as she has done with other such causes.

"Mayor Kautz was a catalyst in bringing cancer care south of the river," said Deb Franko, a spokeswoman for Fairview Ridges, in Burnsville. "Her ongoing support of the hospital and its cancer care program has significantly benefitted the community."

There's also a special toast for those with their own personal victories. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, all breast cancer survivors who wear pink to the shop will get a free glass of shiraz.

Jo Jo's is at 12501 Nicollet Av. S.

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017

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