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Innovative Happy Hour Squared Has Fed More Than 5,000 People So Far
BNW and FINNEGANS Team Up to Reinvent Happy Hour to Feed the Hungry:
Next "Happy Hour Squared" is this Thursday, August 21
The Brave New Workshop Theatre (BNW) has partnered with FINNEGANS, Inc (charitable beer company) to reinvent happy hour, with the goal of feeding the hungry and serving the community. The innovative monthly event, held at the BNW's ETC event centre in downtown Minneapolis, is dubbed " Happy Hour Squared." As a result of the first three "Happy Hour Squared" events, more than 5,000 sandwiches have been made and immediately distributed to the hungry by Mr. Law's MRD 363 Days Food Program. The renowned FINNEGANS Reverse Food Truck (RFT) is also part of the event, accepting cash and non-perishable food donations. The next "Happy Hour Squared" is this Thursday, August 21, 2014 from 5 - 7pm and is free and open to the public.
Happy Hour Squared (HH2) is a monthly, 'happy hour with a purpose' event at the BNW's ETC event centre at 824 Hennepin Avenue. Attendees can show up anytime between 5 - 7pm, enjoy a FINNEGANS beer, share a laugh, make some sandwiches, donate to the FINNEGANS RFT and feel good for having made a difference. The sandwiches made at HH2 are handed off to Mr. Law immediately at the event and go to feed the hungry on the streets that night. The FINNEGANS RFT is parked out front and attendees can make a donation of cash or non-perishable food items for its partnership with the Emergency Food Shelf Network. Anyone donating to the RFT gets a two-for-one voucher for a FINNEGANS beer at the event, and all HH2 attendees are invited to stay for the 7:30 performance at the BNW's main stage for 50% off.
BNW co-owner, John Sweeney, was inspired to create the event after learning about the FINNEGANS Reverse Food Truck and after seeing the inspirational documentary, The Starfish Throwers, by Jesse Roesler. After meeting Minneapolis' Allan Law, who is featured in the film and has been serving the poor and feeding the hungry on the Twin Cities' streets since 1967, Sweeney came up with the 'reinvented happy hour' idea. Mr. Law hands out more than 650,000 sandwiches each year, every night, on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Many of those he helps are not far from the doors of the BNW's downtown theatre.
Sweeney presented the idea to friend and FINNEGANS, Inc. CEO and founder, Jacquie Berglund, and to Mr. Law, and they both loved the concept. "I never cease to be amazed by the creativity of the folks at the BNW," said Berglund. "We are thrilled to be a part of Happy Hour Squared. It is totally mission aligned and it provides our FINNEGANS team of volunteers a hands on way to help alleviate hunger in our community."
"Happy Hour Squared fits with the purpose of BNW Creative Outreach, our corporate services division, which is to spread the mindset of discovery, and the purpose of our ETC event centre, which is to hold events that inspire innovation and serve the community," said Sweeney. "Everyone likes to go to happy hour after work and talk about their day. What if in addition to doing that they went to happy hour and did something good for their community? Happy Hour Squared is just that simple." The first three HH2 events have attracted socially minded bar hoppers looking for a fun way to spend a happy hour, members of the downtown after-work crowd, and even companies looking for group service projects for their employees.
"An event like this does not take much new effort from any of us, but our combined resources create a huge amount of community service impact," said Sweeney. "Happy Hour Squared is a low cost, high impact event." BNW donates staff time to run the event, and donates the use of the ETC space. FINNEGANS provides donated staff and volunteer support as well, including the appearance of its Reverse Food Truck. A portion of the cost to make the sandwiches is covered by the evening's bar sales, as well as voluntary donations collected at the event. The BNW covers the difference as part of its Brave New Citizenship community involvement program.
"Happy Hour Squared is another example of how the Twin Cities is consistently creating innovative ways for people to support the whole community," said Twin Cities community leader, Kieran Folliard, who supports the program and attended the last Happy Hour Squared.
So far HH2 is making an impact, with more than 5,000 sandwiches already delivered. The goal is to test the concept locally at the BNW and then pitch it to a world-wide distributor, like Beam Suntory, to see if the idea can spread world-wide, according to Sweeney. "We'd love to see millions of bars around the globe celebrating happy hour while doing a community service project at the same time," said Sweeney. "It could be making sandwiches like we're doing at HH2, or assembling care packages or simply accepting donations."
SUMMARY:
LINKS / MORE INFO:
HH2 Facebook Event Page
HH2 Video http://tinyurl.com/HappyHourSquared
HH2 Eventbrite Invite
FINNEGANS Reverse Food Truck
Mr. Law's MRD 363 Days Food Program
WHAT: Happy Hour Squared hosted by The Brave New Workshop and FINNEGANS -- a happy hour with heart (have a beer, share a laugh, make sandwiches to feed the hungry, feel good about helping the community)
WHEN: 5 - 7pm -- Thursday, August 21, 2014
HOW: Happy Hour Squared is free and open to the public. Visit our Facebook event page or RSVP at Eventbrite. Check out our HH2 video to catch a glimpse of the action. For more information call the BNW at (612) 332-6620. The event is free and open to the public, and RSVPs are preferred to help with the event planning.
WHERE:
Brave New Workshop
ETC Event Centre
824 Hennepin Ave
Downtown Minneapolis
WHY: Hunger in the Twin Cities is a constant, but often invisible, problem. FINNEGANS has been addressing the issue for years through its partnership with the Emergency Food Shelf Network and its own FINNEGANS Community Fund. Happy Hour Squared is the Brave New Workshop's innovative way of reinventing happy hour and making it easy for its employees, its guests and the community at large to engage in and support an important cause.
PHOTO / VIDEO with natural sound will include groups preparing sandwiches in the ETC event centre and the Reverse Food Truck accepting donations in front of the theatre.
CONTACT: Brave New Workshop (612) 332-6620
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