HOUSTON –– On Friday, September 8, over 100 breweries, restaurants, and festivals spearheaded by Saint Arnold Brewing Company, raised over $35,000 from their taprooms to donate to the Houston Food Bank for relief in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
In the immediate days following Harvey’s touchdown in Houston, Saint Arnold Owner and Founder Brock Wagner received numerous messages from colleagues in the craft beer industry asking how they could help the Texas coastal region in the aftermath of the hurricane. Thus, #ReliefBeers was conceived. Wagner asked those businesses willing to participate to donate one dollar from each pint of beer sold in their taprooms on Friday, September 8. All pint sales combined from two-thirds of participants raised over $35,000, which will be donated to the Houston Food Bank on Tuesday, September 26, at 10:00AM. Businesses continue to report their numbers and the total amount raised will increase.
“It is not surprising that so many in this industry reached out immediately to help out our community,” said Wagner. “The #ReliefBeers event reinforced the notion that serving the community is the heart of the craft beer industry.”
All proceeds from the #ReliefBeers event will be donated to the Houston Food Bank, Houston’s largest food donation foundation. Every dollar donated to the Houston Food Bank provides the equivalent of three meals for an individual and in the fiscal year 2016 – 2017 they distributed 83,000,000 nutritious meals.
“We felt very honored that over 100 craft breweries would join together to raise funds for the Houston Food Bank’s Harvey disaster response efforts, “said Amy Ragan, Chief Development Officer of Houston Food Bank. “The funds will be used to help us distribute food, water and other necessary items to those impacted by the storm and subsequent flooding. Thanks to these funds, those affected will have one less thing to worry about as they rebuild their lives.”
About Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing’s 11 year-round beers, seven seasonals and three special series – Divine Reserve, Icon and Bishop’s Barrel – are made and sold by the company’s staff of 80 dedicated employees. Saint Arnold beers have won 21 medals at the Great American Beer Festival. The brewery on the north side of downtown Houston was listed by Thrillist among the best breweries in America for eating, and Smart Meetings magazine named it among the top breweries to host an event. Saint Arnold is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue and its beer hall open at 11 A.M. Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit www.saintarnold.com.
About the Houston Food Bank
The Houston Food Bank is a solution to both hunger and food waste. Nationally recognized by Feeding America as Food Bank of the Year in 2015, the Houston Food Bank is the largest source of food for hunger relief charities in 18 southeast Texas counties. Each year, the Food Bank feeds 800,000 individuals through a network of 600 food pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers and other charities. We distribute fresh produce, meat and nonperishables from our warehouse at 535 Portwall, where we also prepare nutritious hot meals for kids in our new state-of-the-art Keegan Kitchen. We rescue food before it reaches the landfill through our Retail Pickup program with area grocery stores. Additional community services include nutrition education, school-based programs and SNAP (formerly food stamps) application assistance. Founded in 1982, the Houston Food Bank is a certified member of Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network, with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.