A local business has stepped up to help sponsor a community event coming this fall to benefit a special nonprofit organization.
Plum Plums Cheese on Cherry Street is “starting line sponsor” for the 2023 New Canaan Combine, benefiting the Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer. Created by New Canaan’s Falsetta family—here’s an interview with dad Chris about the effort— the Gracie Fund is named for the Falsettas’ 12-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with leukemia last year and is undergoing treatments. The Combine—organized by House of Telos owner Rebecca Kimball, a 2004 New Canaan High School graduate (podcast here)—is a fun athletic competition between the New Canaan Police and Fire Departments that also brings in community members to fundraise for a good cause.
We put some questions to Gayle Martin, who owns Plum Plums Cheese with her husband Michael Riahi, about getting involved with the Combine and Gracie Fund.
Our exchange follows.
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New Canaanite: How did you hear about the Combine and the Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer?
Gayle Martin with husband Michael Riahi of Plum Plums Cheese on Cherry Street.
Gayle Martin: Chris has been a customer of ours for many years, and he and Brigette were so enthusiastic and helpful when we first moved to New Canaan a few years ago. We’ve developed a very friendly relationship and we’ve been following their story. It didn’t surprise my husband Michael and I that through their own travails, they have unselfishly created a way to help others.
What made you want Plum Plums Cheese to become starting line sponsor for the Combine?
Well of course we wanted to be involved, and when we told Chris that we would donate a portion of our sales during September to The Gracie Fund, he put the pieces together and voila, we are so excited to be the starting line sponsor!
It’s been two years since you guys opened the store on Cherry Street. How’s it going?
Inside Plum Plums Cheese on Cherry Street.
It’s going great! Our location is really perfect for us, with more space to introduce new items all the time.
What, if anything, has surprised you about New Canaan or your local customers here?
I wouldn’t call it surprising, but we’re so happy with how supportive the New Canaan community has been. Our customer base continues to grow through word of mouth – and that means the world to us.
What else would you like to say about your participation in the Combine as a sponsor or about the fundraiser itself?
We’ll be donating a proceed of our sales from September 15 – September 30 to the fundraiser, so please be sure to stop in to Plum Plums to support the cause – and we’ll see you at the starting line!
[Editor’s Note: NewCanaanite.com will be profiling companies and organizations that sponsor the 2023 New Canaan Combine benefitting the Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer through the summer and into the fall. More info on sponsorships here.]