The Auction of Washington Wines has awarded its annual industry grant to La Casa Hogar, a community organization that connects and educates Latina families in Washington’s Yakima Valley.

La Casa Hogar serves more than 700 people, many of them farmworkers and their families, each year through adult education, early learning and citizenship programs. The organization is celebrating 25 years of service this year.

The $15,000 grant will help to support La Casa Hogar’s adult education program, which includes six levels of English classes, civic engagement, leadership development, pre-GED, health and nutrition, and Spanish and English language exchange.

“Through adult education and civic engagement, students rebuild their self-confidence that often erodes amidst immigrating to a new community with a different language and culture,” Laura Armstrong, executive director of La Casa Hogar, said in a statement with the announcement in February. “Every year, we fundraise the entire budget of this program to continue this work; this grant will go to direct and immediate use in this work.”

The Auction of Washington Wines’ grant program provides funding and support to organizations that offer services directly affecting Washington wine grape growers and wine producers. Since its inception in 1988, AWW has raised more than $50 million, benefiting Seattle Children’s Hospital and Washington State University wine science research.

“Yakima Valley is synonymous with Washington wine, so we’re thrilled to be awarding our industry grant this year to a program that supports education for workers who make some of our state’s most celebrated wines,” said Jamie Peha, executive director of Auction of Washington Wines.

Applications for this year’s grant program will be accepted between May 1 and Nov. 30. In an effort to grow support for organizations that support the Washington wine industry, the AWW board of directors voted to double this year’s grant amount to $30,000. For more information, visit www.AuctionofWAWines.org.