ESCONDIDO, CA (Feb. 8, 2016) – Throughout 2015, Stone Brewing donated nearly $345,000 cash and contributed more than $150,000 worth of beer to charities, all made possible by fans, passionate volunteers, industry compatriots and Team Stone members. Like previous years, the past 12 months were filled with fundraising events and meaningful programs that benefitted a diverse group of organizations.
“Since establishing Stone Brewing with my business partner, Steve Wagner, we have demonstrated our commitment to supporting organizations that make a positive impact in their communities,” said Stone CEO & co-founder Greg Koch. “As we embark on our 20th anniversary, it gives us great pleasure to say that we’ve donated more than $3 million dollars in cash and generously supported organizations through beer donations since 1996. These contributions were possible thanks to dedicated team members and loyal Stone fans…cheers to them!”
2015 charitable efforts include:
Stone 19th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival The Stone 19th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival took place on August 15 and 16. One hundred percent of the proceeds, $250,000 in all, was donated to these San Diego County charities: the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos, Fight ALD, Palomar Family YMCA, Surfrider Foundation and California State University San Marcos Foundation. In addition to covering a number of expenses, Stone paid employees for more than 3,000 hours of time working alongside charity volunteers to produce the event.
Stone Brewing Brewery Tours A portion of proceeds from Stone brewery tours, $52,000, was donated to San Diego County charities, including Poway Center for the Performing Arts, Friends of San Marcos Parks & Recreation, Lupus Foundation of Southern California/Beer to the Rescue and San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum. Stone made this possible by contributing $1 from each public brewery tour admission.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station ImperiALS IPA Stone donated $3,084 from the proceeds of Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station ImperiALS IPA to Ales for ALS, an organization that supports research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station Homefront IPA Stone donated $16,672 from sales of Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station Homefront IPA to the Hops for Heroes initiative, benefitting the nonprofit organization Soldiers’ Angels, whose mission is to provide aid and comfort to the U.S. military families and growing veteran population.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station Rainbow Triplin’ Stone donated $3,215 to Beer to the Rescue from the proceeds of Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station Rainbow Triplin’. The Belgian-style tripel was brewed with 500 pounds of strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes and Concord grapes to emulate the flavors of candies. The San Diego-based charity campaign, headed by local beer journalist and former Team Stone member Brandon Hernández, raises money in support of victim outreach, education and aid provided by the Lupus Foundation of Southern California. “Sawyer’s Triple” Rebrewed at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station Sawyer’s Triple was named and brewed in honor of Sawyer Benjamin Sherwood, the son of former Team Stone member Bill Sherwood and his wife, Janis. In early 2003 Sawyer was diagnosed with Adrenoleukodystrophy—also known as ALD—a rare neurodegenerative disease that sadly ended his life later that year. To celebrate Sawyer’s 21st birthday, Stone rebrewed the original recipe for Sawyer’s Triple at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station and proceeds, $7,433 in all, were donated to Fight ALD, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to spread awareness for the all-important early detection of the disease and search for its cure.
Ally’s Warriors of Stone Foundation and Watkins Memorial High School Band Boosters More than $11,000 was raised for the Watkins Memorial High School Band Boosters and Ally’s Warriors of Stone Foundation. Stone CEO received a letter from a determined high school student in Pataskala, OH that explained the dire situation of her high school’s extracurricular and educational programs, which were facing the ax because a funding levy had repeatedly failed to get enough votes. Koch, who grew up in Pataskala, was touched by the plea and promised to brew a special, small batch beer—Stone Pataskala Red X IPA—with proceeds to further benefit school arts and music programs should the measure pass. The hope was to garner support from the community. Fortunately, the levy passed and Koch made good on his promise by personally celebrating with locals in September upon the delivery of the beer to Pataskala and surrounding areas.
Hop-Con 3.0: The w00tstout Festival Dave “the Reverend” Johnson, a comic-book cover artist recognized for his work for DC Comics and the Vertigo series 100 Bullets, designed the commemorative artwork for Drew Curtis / Wil Wheaton / Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout bottle label and lithographic prints, which were sold at the annual event. In exchange for the artist’s creative talents and work, Stone donated $1,500 to The Hero Initiative, a charity organization that provides retirement funds to golden-age comic-book artists.
San Diego Blood Bank Stone hosted two public blood drives in support of the San Diego Blood Bank. Thanks to participating fans and Team Stone, the drives—both of which took place at our Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens locations—collected 28 units of blood, saving 84 lives, according to the San Diego Blood Bank.
Thankgiving Dinners Stone donated 45 Thanksgiving meals to Casa de Amparo, an organization that treats and prevents child abuse and neglect throughout San Diego County, and five dinners to the Oceanside Yacht Club, which served them to Camp Pendleton Marines and U.S. Marine Corps veterans. Beer Donations Stone supported more than 325 local, regional and national charities by donating more than $150,000 worth of Stone beer for nonprofit events in 2015 and contributing countless hours of labor to the events as well.
For more information about Stone Brewing’s philanthropic efforts, visit stonebrewing.com/donations.
About Stone Brewing Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996, San Diego-based Stone Brewing is the 9th largest craft brewer in the United States. Stone has been listed on the Inc. 500 | 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list 11 times, and has been called the “All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth” by BeerAdvocate magazine twice. The multifaceted company will be the first American craft brewer to build, own and operate a brewery in Europe, and is also building a production brewery and destination restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. Brewing at both locations is anticipated to begin in spring 2016. Known for its bold, flavorful and largely hop-centric beers, Stone has earned a reputation for brewing outstanding, unique beers while maintaining an unwavering commitment to sustainability, business ethics, philanthropy and the art of brewing. For more information on Stone Brewing, please visit stonebrewing.com or the company’s social media sites: Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and The Stone Blog.
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