Al MacDonald/LIVE
Established by LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology), the goal of this scholarship is to help vineyard workers gain the skills to move up within the industry. Through its standards and reliance on collaborative research, LIVE promotes the use of of environmentally safe, economically feasible, and socially equitable management practices in the vineyard and winery.
LIVE was formed in 1997 by a small group of visionary winegrowers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 1999 they incorporated their fledgling organization as a 501©(3) not-for-profit organization and soon after achieved a prestigious accreditation from the European chapter of the IOBC. LIVE has been certifying vineyards in Oregon since then, followed by Washington growers in 2006, and Idaho in 2012. In 2008 LIVE developed a first-in-class winery certification program. Today, LIVE certification is available to vineyards and wineries throughout the Pacific Northwest of the US and is partnered with numerous other certifications and NGO’s around the world whose goal is a more sustainable future in wine.
The Al MacDonald/LIVE Wine Studies Scholarship was named for Al MacDonald, one of the founders of both LIVE and the Wine Studies Department at Chemeketa Community College, to honor his lifetime of service in education and sustainable agriculture.
Impact
The goal of this scholarship is to provide assistance to first-generation students enrolled in the Wine Studies Program at Chemeketa Community College. Funds will be used to help defray tuition costs and other educational expenses and participating students must enroll or be enrolled in classes and make consistent progress toward their degrees or certificates in the Wine Studies Program.