Charity of the Month:  Food Bank for Larimer County 

Harvest is in full swing and we are starting to see the first tomatoes ripen on the vine and the hot peppers share all of their sun-inspired glory; the perfect time to celebrate our local Food Bank for Larimer County and host them in our tap room for the month of August. They aim to “Provide food to all in need through community partnerships and hunger-relief programs.” Our Food Bank boasts unique and thoughtful programming that puts healthy, homegrown food in the hands of families in need. Plant It Forward encourages families with excess in their gardens at harvest to share the bounty through Food Share that allows its clients to “shop” the Food Bank pantry sending them home with fresh vegetables and a healthy dose of dignity. On Monday, August 29th, if you bring in your extra harvest to the tap room at Odell Brewing Company, we will deliver your veggies to the Food Bank and buy you a beer! Their “Kids Café” program partners with our local Poudre School District to ensure that kids that receive free or reduced lunch throughout the school year have access to healthy lunches all summer provided in the cafeteria of their local elementary or middle school. Feeding Us Forward is a great way for us to get involved as individuals and offer planned monetary support of our Food Bank. If you are interested in hosting a food or fund drive for the Food Bank for Larimer County, please visit the site below and be sure to visit the tap room this month!

Fund and Food Drives: http://www.foodbanklarimer.org/fund-and-food-drives/

If you’d like to donate, please visit: http://www.foodbanklarimer.org/donate-money/

To learn more about the history of our Food Bank, please visit here: http://www.foodbanklarimer.org/history/

For more information on our Charities of the Month program, you can reach out to Karla Baise at [email protected]

Tip Jar: FoCo Café (Feeding Our Community Ourselves)

Community Cafes seem to be gracing the landscape of towns and cities more and more, but none seem to be more successful or supported by their communities than our very own FoCo Café! The café offers the opportunity for EVERYONE in our community to enjoy a delicious, healthy meal regardless of their socio-economic background. Guests of the café are encouraged to “pay what they can” and are never turned away for lack of funds. If you have a little extra spending money, you can pay it forward and buy an anonymous café visitor lunch. Folks can also volunteer and work off their meals by bussing tables and helping to clean up. Jeff and Kathleen Baumgardner started raising funds in 2012 and opened the doors on Thanksgiving Day in 2014. We have been proud sponsors of this fine addition to our community since its inception and work with their mentors, SAME Café in Denver as well! You will find Odell brews at their annual events, the FoCo Café Bike-In Music Fest, First Friday summer evenings at the Shire and Colorado Gives Day that we host in our tap room in December. So far the café has served 39,692 meals and have been gifted with more than 9,800 hours of volunteer service! They are located at 225 Maple Street in Fort Collins and we hope to see you there!

To learn more about the café visit: http://fococafe.org/foco-cafe-history/

To donate please visit: http://fococafe.org/donate/

Raising one for our community,

Karla Baise, Community Outreach Coordinator