Vintner Darioush Khaledi to Receive OLE Health Foundation Award at weekend festivities.
Darioush Khaledi is the 2026 recipient of the OLE Health Foundation’s John Shafer Visionary Award. The presentation to the Darioush Winery proprietor will be part of Vida OLE! Weekend, September 17th–19th.
The nonprofit OLE Health Foundation, which provides healthcare for Napa Valley residents and workers, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. What impressed me most while researching a 2022 Napa Valley Life piece that included the foundation were the stories of individuals, often at their most vulnerable moments, whose lives the group’s services substantially improved. (OLE Health of Napa and Solano merged in 2023 with CommuniCare of Yolo County to form CommuniCare+OLE.)
Dinner, Auction at Quintessa
The Vida OLE! 2026 hot ticket is the Dinner & Auction on September 19th at Quintessa in St. Helena. I was lucky enough to attend a few years ago and had a terrific time. Visit communicareole.org/Auction for ticket information. If you buy a weekend pass, you can also attend one of the vintners’ dinners on September 18th at Opus One Winery, Stony Hill, and Theorem Vineyards.
OLE Health Background
A little background from the Vida OLE! press release:
“This year’s event also serves as the kickoff of a $5 million capital campaign to support the recently announced purchase and expansion of OLE Health’s St. Helena health center in the heart of downtown at 1222 Pine Street. All proceeds from the Vida OLE! 2026 events will go toward providing a permanent home for the clinic and nearly doubling its capacity with added exam rooms, dedicated behavioral health consultation spaces, team spaces, and enhanced amenities for the more than 5,000 patients served each year.
“When nearly six in ten Up Valley residents rely on CommuniCare+OLE for primary care, our St. Helena center is essential to our mission of ensuring everyone has access to high-quality care close to home,” said Naoko Dalla Valle, Chair of the OLE Health Foundation Board of Directors.”
Lead photo of Darioush Khaledi by Drew Altizer + Aperture Media, courtesy of CommuniCare+OLE.