Guests took another fun trip around the world at the 2026 Wine and Dine fundraiser at the Grand Harbor Golf Club to benefit the Hibiscus Children’s Center’s Vero Beach-based Hibiscus Village.
The ladies of the Indian River Guild chose an Island Hop theme this year, which introduced culinary delights from Sicily, Mykonos, Fiji, Cape Cod and Ibiza, paired with a selection of wines to complete the experience.
The Hibiscus Village, 37-bed group home facility, provides a safe haven for youths ages 12 through 17 who have been removed by the state from their homes due to abuse, neglect and/or abandonment. There are also recreational areas, a Career Pathways Center that has Graphic Design and Culinary components, and an Academic Achievement Center. Additionally, teens receive medical care and mental health counseling.
“On behalf of the entire Indian River Guild of Hibiscus, we’d like to welcome you officially and thank you so very much for your continued support of Hibiscus,” said Justine McGrory, event chair with Concie Fowler.
She commented that the guild also hosts two other events each season, the December Gala and the April Blue Ribbon Fashion Show Luncheon.
“Our Wine and Dine is a little more casual, and it’s pretty focused on food and wine,” said McGrory, before thanking the Grand Harbor chef and staff for creating the delicious repast.
“We know that you have many choices in this town to give your time and your donations to, and we just want to emphasize again how very, very grateful we are that you feel strongly, as we do, to support the children of this county. They truly deserve it,” said McGrory, before introducing Hibiscus CEO Matt Markley.
“Thank you for being here, from the bottom of our hearts. I don’t think you really understand how much this means to Hibiscus. You are supporting kids that you will never know. But I know them. I see them. And I see what Hibiscus does for them,” said Markley.
“Most kids are with us six months. Sometimes kids are with us years. Sometimes they’re with us until they graduate from high school. We get them ready to send them off to the adult world because of folks like you.”
Markley said that while Hibiscus receives state and federal funding that covers roughly 70 percent of core operations, they rely on fundraisers for everything else.
“You folks, the Indian River Guild, and all the folks who came here tonight and all the other events, help us out with that. We wouldn’t be able to do it. Just on state and federal funds, we would not be able to balance the budget,” said Markley.
He said that when teens come to the community, they are traumatized and upset.
“They don’t know why they’re there. They don’t know why they were taken away from their parents. And after they’re there a while, they loosen up and they start to talk. And they make friends. And they get back in school,” said Markley.
Many, he said, arrive two or three grade levels behind their peers in school and Hibiscus helps them catch up so that they can graduate.
“I just want you to get the sense of how important what you do is, just by coming here. And the ladies of the Indian River Guild have been doing this for 30 some years,” said Markley, estimating that they’ve generated some $10 million over that time period.
For more information, visit HibiscusChildrensCenter.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
