We’ve been reporting on donation drives to help local kids in need get school supplies — through West Seattle Helpline and Pencil Me In For Kids – both of which are still collecting, so please donate if you haven’t already. But if you have already reached out locally – here’s a chance to help kids overseas, too: A wine-tasting event this Thursday at C&P Coffee in West Seattle, hosted by the nonprofit Scholastic Journey to help kids in Bali. SJ’s Krista Livingston shared the photo and this info about the event:

Scholastic Journey, a non-profit organization, will be hosting a wine-tasting fund raiser on Thursday, September 3, 2009 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. The wine tasting will be held in West Seattle at C&P Coffee Company, located at 5612 California Avenue SW and will feature a selection of five wines from Ward Johnson Winery, an urban family winery located at the foot of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. Their 06 Merlot won a bronze medal at the 2009 Seattle Wine Awards, and their 06 Cabernet was rated “Outstanding” by Wine Press Northwest. Admission to the event is $15.

Scholastic Journey aims to fill the void in education left by extreme poverty. Scholastic Journey was founded in 2009 to provide an opportunity for children around the world to attend school. Many families are unable to provide their children with the supplies necessary to attend school; items like school uniforms, text books, backpacks, papers, pens and pencils are outside the means of many families in severely impoverished areas. The mission of Scholastic Journey is to enable children to attend school by providing them with these supplies. Provisions will be purchased in the children’s’ own community, in an effort to also help stimulate the local economy.

Scholastic Journey is committed to aid five elementary schools in Bunatan, Bali, Indonesia. Bali has a population of about 3.1 million people (recorded in 2005), 93% of whom adhere to Balinese Hinduism. Bali is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music. Unfortunately, a series of natural disasters, political coups and terrorist attacks severely affected tourism, bringing much economic hardship to the island. The average annual income in Bunatan and surrounding areas is less than $500, not allowing most families to provide an education for their children.

To find out more about Scholastic Journey, e-mail Krista at admin@scholasticjourney.org – and/or be at the event at C&P Thursday, which includes appetizers and a silent auction.