Escondido, CA – Stone Brewing Co. has contributed more than $650,000 to charity in 2013, thanks to loyal fans, dedicated volunteers, craft brewing compatriots and a stellar group of Team Stone employees. As in previous years, the past 12 months were packed with charitable endeavors that benefited a variety of organizations.
“Stone is proud to continue our longstanding company principle of actively contributing to worthy charities every year,” said Stone CEO and Co-founder Greg Koch. “This year’s contributions reflect our dedication to the community and the charities that make a positive difference for the people and initiatives they serve. Cheers to them!”
2013 charitable contributions included:
Stone 17th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival
On August 16 and 17, Stone held its 17th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival. One of the brewing company’s largest charity contributions to-date was made possible by:
- 7,000 fans who attended the festival
- 73 breweries that donated kegs of beer
- 342 volunteers who donated their time
- 314 Stone employees who worked the two-day event.
This allowed 100% of proceeds from the festival—$250,000 in all—to be donated to local charities, including the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos, Fight ALD, Palomar Family YMCA, Surfrider Foundation and California State University San Marcos Foundation.
Stone Brewing Co. Brewery Tours
Tours of Stone’s production brewery are offered daily, and $1 from each $3 admission sold is donated to selected charities. Stone collected more than $50,000 in donations from tour sales in 2013, donating proceeds to Project Walk┬« Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center (first quarter earnings), The Escondido Creek Conservancy (second quarter), TERI Campus of Life (third quarter) and Casa de Amparo (fourth quarter).
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens — Liberty Station VIP Pre-opening
Earlier this year, Stone opened its second farm-to-table restaurant, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens — Liberty Station, located in San Diego’s Point Loma community. To fine-tune the restaurant’s operations before officially unveiling it to the public, Stone hosted three pre-opening sessions on May 10, 11 and 13. Fifty percent of the total proceeds from these events were donated to charities—totaling $15,000 in contributions. The NTC Foundation received $10,000, and $5,000 was given to the National Marine Mammal Foundation.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens — Liberty Station 12/15 IPA: Ales for ALS IPA
In an effort to support research for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Stone donated $10,000 to Ales for ALS from proceeds of yet another beer brewed at Stone’s Liberty Station brewery-restaurant, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens — Liberty Station 12/15 IPA: Ales for ALS IPA. The beer was a low-alcohol IPA brewed with four new and unique hop varietals. Created by B.T. Loftus Ranches Inc. and Hopunion LLC, Ales for ALS offers participating brewers access to a proprietary hop blend free of charge in exchange for donating a portion of the beer’s sales to ALS TDI, the world’s leading ALS research organization.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens — Liberty Station Operation Homefront IPA
Stone donated more than $3,000 to Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization supporting and bettering the lives of U.S. Military families, as part of its Hops for Heroes initiative. The funds donated were from sales of Operation Homefront IPA, which was brewed at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station. The beer was an India pale ale brewed with orange peel, in addition to Chinook and Cascade hops, then rested in fermenter tanks with untreated maple bats donated by Louisville Slugger. Additionally, members of the San Diego Padres served as spokespeople for the cause as extensions of Operation Homefront’s sponsor for this endeavor, Major League Baseball.