FINNEGANS Driving to $1 Million in Donations Back to Community Since Company’s Inception
Friday, June 3, 2016 at 4:55AM
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (June 1, 2016) -- FINNEGANS Brew Co. is launching a new summer campaign to help drive one million in total donations back to the community since the company’s opening in September 2000. The FINNEGANS Million Dollar Drive will be supported by its beer sales, the Reverse Food Truck fleet, a FINNEGANS MS150 cycling team and a Sweet 16 Birthday Registry with gifts for local food shelves. The campaign will run through the summer with the goal of hitting $1 Million by September.
FINNEGANS has a longstanding tradition of helping out the community. The first of its kind social enterprise has an extensive network of food partners: farms & food shelves through food bank partners, volunteers and a fleet of Reverse Food Trucks that make it all happen. Since 2012, FINNEGANS has funded nearly 394,000 lbs. of food in a five state area (MN, WI, SD, ND and IA). In Minnesota last year alone the fresh produce provided to those in need was funded from 34 farms and went to 78 different food shelves via The Food Group’s Harvest for the Hungry program. Since the launch of the Reverse Food Truck in 2014, an additional $68,037 worth of food has gone back to the community.
Founder and CEO, Jacquie Berglund, noted: "I set out 15 years ago to leave the world a better place than when I got here and our FINNEGANS model has been a great way to do that. I'm thrilled at the prospect of reaching the million dollar mark in donations. Giving our profits away to help those in need and working with an amazing team of staff and volunteers who all enjoy doing good in the community feeds me every day!"
FINNEGANS is calling on community members, businesses and organizations to take part in the Million Dollar Drive by first drinking FINNEGANS beer - the beer that does good. The new Freckled Rooster and Hoppy Shepherd, along with the flagship Irish Amber, will be available in a new Summer Saintly Sampler which includes an exclusive cocktail card featuring all three brews. The profit from all beer sales goes back to fighting hunger in local communities. Another way people can get involved is by participating in the Sweet 16 Birthday Registry. Everything on the registry is something a food shelf or people facing food insecurity needs but budgets often do not cover.
The goal of this campaign is to honor FINNEGANS’ mission of turning beer into food as proclaimed in their manifesto: “We believe in barstool philanthropy. In social innovation building strong communities. And that doing good and having fun play nicely together. We believe in the sweet alchemy of turning beer into food. In lining food shelves with fresh produce from local growers. And that it takes a village to raise a more purposeful pint.”
Check out finnegans.org/onemillion to see progress throughout the campaign and join us in helping turn beer into food for those in need!
FINNEGANS (www.FINNEGANS.org)
FINNEGANS – Turning beer into food. Founded in 2000 in Minneapolis, FINNEGANS is a self-sustaining and inspirational social business. Through the sale of its Amber Ale, Hoppy Shepherd Ale, Dead Irish Poet Extra Stout and now the new Freckled Rooster, FINNEGANS has created an innovative business model that allows the company to create community wealth. How? One hundred percent of the profits are donated to the FINNEGANS Community Fund (501c3) to support hunger alleviation programs in every market where FINNEGANS is sold. FINNEGANS has scaled its giving program to MN, WI, ND, SD and IA. Now, is there a better reason to raise a pint of FINNEGANS?
For the latest information, find FINNEGANS on Twitter and Facebook or visit finnegans.org.
