A little over 15 years ago I was sitting at a table in downtown Minneapolis at the University of St. Thomas. I was participating in the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Twin Cities (LTC) program and it was the first day of the program. The LTC program brought approximately 60 participants together for a 9-month program focused on increasing awareness of the critical issues facing our community. I was excited to be selected to be part of the program. I was also humbled by the talents of my classmates.
As fate would have it, I turned to one of my other participants at my table. I introduced myself. And then she introduced herself – something like this (in an extremely fast paced use of the English language), “Oh- my-gosh—My-name-is-Jacquie-and-I-don’t-know-why-I-am-here—I-just-quit-my-job-and-started-my-own-beer-company-and-we-are-giving-all-our-money-to-the-poor-but-I-don’t-have-any-money-right-now-but-this-is-where-I-think-I-should-be–Am-I-nuts-or-what?”
And so my friendship with Jacquie began. As a friend and supporter over the years I observed the crazy ride Jacquie and FINNEGANS have been on. A few years ago I joined and continue to serve on the FINNEGANS Community Fund Board.
2016 marks the 16th Anniversary for FINNEGANS SBC and the FINNEGANS Community Fund (FCF). The impact the FCF has had on our community has continued to grow and evolve alongside FINNEGANS SBC.
- The FINNEGANS Reverse Food Truck has now grown to become a fleet of RFTs averaging about $300-$400 in donations at any given event, giving the community another way to give back.
- Our MS150 team has continually raised thousands of dollars for the MS Society and already on track to break $100,000 in donations just from our team that started with 26 riders five years ago.
- Over $20,000 was raised through our most recent Drink Like You Care Campaign where we engage distributors to match our donations based on beer sales in November and December and are fortunate to have retail and promotion matching partners as well.
FCF continues to try to be innovative and impactful on doing good. One thing we recently became aware of is that the impact the FCF has had on the community is quickly approaching $1 million! How cool would it be if we could surpass that milestone as part of the Sweet 16 Anniversary Year of FINNEGANS?
So we have put our thinking caps on and are looking at ways we can make this happen. Of course, we are always open to ideas and suggestions from the FINNEGANS community. Ways to help could be like finding the RFT at your next event or beer fest and help to make it more impactful than ever- it will be hitting the roads again as early as March (just in time of St. Paddy’s). Avid biker? Join the team with the most fun by joining team FINNEGANS (I hear they have the best party tent halfway). And the easiest would be drinking FINNEGANS- St. Patrick’s day is just around the corner so grab a few friends and raise a pint, maybe even a pint of the new Hoppy Shepherd session ale and simply Drink Like You Care.
What suggestions do you have to help us reach $1 million impacting the community? We’re always looking to learn more about who’s in the community and where we can join efforts or innovate to give back more to those in need.
-Jeff Urban
Board Chair of FINNEGANS Community Fund