Harpoon Helps Blog: To Brew and To Serve

Having our brewery homes in New England, we are no stranger to unexpected weather patterns, but it seems that no one could have predicted the devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to our neighbors in the states to the south of us. We know we are not the only ones that have been asking – how can we help?

We reached out to our friends at the Vermont Foodbank for their guidance. Judy, the Vermont Foodbank’s Director of Communication, let us know that her colleague Ed was asked by their national network, Feeding America, to aid five food banks in New York and New Jersey in their recovery efforts. After experiencing Hurricane Irene and its resulting devastation to the state of Vermont last year, Ed and his team know firsthand the best ways to help after a natural disaster, and are extremely useful to Feeding America, who is a member of the National Voluntary Relief Organizations Active in Disaster, (NVOAD), a coalition of disaster relief organizations that is among the first responders called upon to assist with relief and recovery during a national emergency.

How you can help:

• Make a donation to a Feeding America Food Bank   Food banks in the affected areas are asking for financial support at this time. You can find a list of food banks in the affected regions at www.feedingamerica.org. Monetary donations to the pre-existing programs in these areas ensure that funds go directly to helping food relief agencies provide meals to those that were affected, those that are displaced and the first responders in those areas.

• Raise a Toast!  On Thursday, November 15^th at 5pm we’ll be starting the Thanksgiving season a week early by sending our Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale to each of the British Beer Company’s 12 locations, the only place it can be found on draft. Proceeds from each pint of Grateful Harvest purchased will be donated to the local food bank, each a member of Feeding America’s network.

If you can’t make it to the British Beer Company on November 15^th, Grateful harvest can be found in local package stores.  For every 6-pack of Grateful Harvest sold, we’ll donate $1 per 6-pack to the food bank in the area where it was purchased. All Feeding America food relief agencies are banding together to ensure no one in these areas goes without a warm, healthy meal, and every donation helps! To find Grateful Harvest near you, use our Beer Finder: www.harpoonbrewery.com/beerfinder.

To our neighbors who were affected by the hurricane, please know we are thinking of you! We know there may be a long road to recovery ahead of some of you, but please know we’ll be doing what we can to help during this time. We encourage all of you, our Harpoon Helpers, to do what you can to help our neighbors affected.