I started planning this wine-tasting for the Breast Cancer 3-Day months ago. I asked complete strangers on Etsy.com to donate raffle items, made three brassiere purses, schemed on how to display said purses, and designed programs, raffle tickets and fliers. And for at least the last three weeks, that was all I could talk about (just ask my Facebook status updates. All about brassiere purses. And wine.)

And I was proud of the results. Several Etsy artists were supportive. My aunt drove in from Springfield and Aaron drove up from Plano to help me with the wine-tasting Friday night. I didn’t know about half of the 18 people who came, so at least some of my publicity efforts must have been successful. There was one breast-cancer survivor who thanked my aunt and me for our work, which was a nice reminder of why exactly I’m going to all this trouble in the first place.

The Corkscrew Pointe owner, John, was nice enough to offer me 10 percent of the sales of people who mention my fundraiser for the next three months.

(That’s right. If you buy wine from Corkscrew Pointe, 1402 N. Riverside Drive, McHenry, between now and Aug. 1, simply mention that you’d like part of the proceeds to go to breast cancer research, and I’ll get 10 percent of your total purchase.)

But when I got home, before I fell into bed, I counted up all the money from the evening. $465, including $50 in cash I brought as change. When I took out the change money, plus the $100 for the wine and another $100 for the food (including some excellent tarts from Tarts & Truffles on the Woodstock Square), I was left with $215. $215 after weeks of work.

And that means I’ve raised a total of $620. Only $1,680 to go until I reach the $2,300 minimum goal. Sigh.