How it began…

I have always believed in giving back to the community, so Twenty-six 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. Delete this paragraph?)

Starting in 2026, The Heart of a Champion Wine & Food Experience will now be called A CHAMPIONS HEART WINE & FOOD EXPERIENCE. Same great event just a new name and beneficiary.

The two beneficiaries of this event will be The Ohio Regional Training Center (ORTC) and The American Heart Association.

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.

The American Heart Associations goal is to end heart disease and stroke for everyone, as every 34 seconds, heart disease claims another life.

The reason these two charities are the beneficiary of 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 suffer a fatal heart attack due to a genetic anomaly.

I was already on the board for the ORTC when I learned what had happened to Teague, it was a natural fit to give back to another charity that is trying to eradicate heart disease. So, with one charity event we can 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 2025, we exceeded our target goal with well over $127,000 raised for beneficiaries! 

My committee and I are super excited about the 2026 A Champions Heart Wine & Food Experience and we hope to raise over $135,000.00

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

Sincerely,

Howard Rutsky,

A Champions Heart Wine & Food Experience Chairman and Host