I have always believed in giving back to the community  Twenty-three years ago, I started supporting, hosting, and organizing various charity events in Central Ohio for causes I believed in.

In 2018, I felt the time seemed right to create a new wine and food themed event, so I started The Heart of a Champion Wine & Food Experience benefiting The Ohio Regional Training Center (ORTC) and MCORE Foundation; two organizations that I felt deserved a forum to receive support from the community.

The ORTC is a center where Olympic-caliber wrestlers train and pursue their dreams of Olympic and World Gold Medals with world-class facilities and coaching. The ORTC has been the training home for several world champions and an Olympic Gold Medalist.

MCORE Foundation does heart screenings for middle and high school aged athletes to proactively detect abnormalities that could cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

The reason these two charities are paired up for this fundraiser is a simple yet tragic story; Tom Ryan, head coach for The Ohio State University Wrestling program and head of the ORTC, had his five-year-old son Teague pass away from SCA.

I was already on the board for the ORTC when I learned what had happened to Teague and simultaneously learned about MCORE Foundation and the work they were doing to prevent SCA in youth athletes. It seemed a perfect union to create one charity event that could benefit two very different, yet worthy causes.

With the help of a committee of Central Ohio business leaders, members of the beneficiary organizations, and dedicated volunteers, the first Heart of a Champion Wine & Food Experience was held in September 2019 as an in-person, live event in Columbus that was a very successful and a great event to attend.

The challenges of COVID-19 and large public gatherings forced us to pivot into very successful virtual events in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, we returned to a live, in-person event at the Greater Columbus Convention Center with plenty of space to match our event’s growth and in 2023, we exceeded our target goal with well over $100,000 raised to benefit MCORE Foundation and the Ohio RTC!  2024 is shaping up to be an outstanding year to again exceed our goal.

On behalf of the Event Committee and myself, we invite you to be part of this year’s Heart of a Champion Wine & Food Experience and help our two valuable beneficiaries.

Sincerely,

Howard Rutsky, Heart of a Champion Wine and Food Experience Chairman and Host