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Neighborhood Report

Collecting corks for a grape cause

A Westchase pair say drink up and then stop by with your bottle stoppers to fight a disease.

By STEPHANIE HAYES
Published September 8, 2006

WESTCHASE

You've sipped the last swig of riesling or savored the final splash of merlot. Do you toss the bottle remains into a Hefty bag?

Not so fast. Sherry and Mark Held will take the cork.

The couple, who live in the Shires village of Westchase, have spent the last couple of months saving used wine bottle corks, packing them up and selling them on eBay through the site's MissionFish program.

The money raised benefits the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

Yep, you heard right. People pay money for used wine corks.

"I saw somebody making a coffee table out of the wine corks. Then they put a glass top on it," Sherry Held said. "I have seen trivets made out of them, different arts and crafts things."

Sherry, department manager for student nutrition at Hillsborough County schools, and Mark, a Pinellas County firefighter, sell the corks in packages of 100 for about $10 to $15.

"People seem to pay a couple more dollars because ours is going to breast cancer," said Mark Held, 42.

They've raised about $150 so far. Still, that's a profit from something that would otherwise be trash.

"We drink wine here in this household, and my husband sells some stuff on eBay here and there," said Sherry, 45. "I just put it together - why don't we sell used wine corks?"

She is compelled to help because three of her neighbors are battling breast cancer.

"I think the older you get, the more you're touched by it," she said.

Corks are an overflowing commodity. In 2005, there were more than 700-million gallons of wine sold in the United States. You can imagine how many corks that equals.

The couple listed their address in World of Westchase, the community news magazine, and asked neighbors to drop corks at the house.

Sherry said one woman dropped off an enormous bag of corks and said, "I wondered what I was saving these for." Some breast cancer survivors have donated corks and offered gratitude. A regular wine drinker in Sherry's office has started bringing in loads of corks.

The couple hope to get local restaurants or bars involved.

"We would love for some restaurants to collect for us," she said. "If they're nearby, I could stop by and pick them up."

Still, the Helds aren't gunning for heroics. They didn't even list their name or phone number in the ad soliciting corks. They just want to help where they can.

"We need to figure out how to fight this thing," she said.

Got corks?

Drop them off at 11837 Lancashire Drive in the Shires village of Westchase. No plastic corks, please. Or e-mail the Helds at sherrye@tampabay.rr.com

[Last modified September 7, 2006, 11:24:42]