Beer Festival Distributes $52,000 in Grants
Decatur Metro | January 25, 2013A recent Patch post reminded me that the Jan/Feb Decatur Focus announced the benefactors of this year’s Decatur Beer Festival grants. According to the Focus, since 1998 the festival has given more than $550,000 back to the community. Here are this year’s winners via the Focus…
Decatur’s MLK Service Project – to assist low-income senior homeowners with home maintenance and repair.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta – to support Power Hour, a comprehensive education and tutoring program.
I CARE – to provide transportation services to Decatur senior residents for doctor, hospital, and pharmacy appointments.
Decatur-area Emergency Assistance Ministry – to computerize the office for ability to do business with other organizations such as Atlanta Community Food Bank.
Poverty is Real – to coordinate efforts with musicians and businesses to help raise money for local organizations addressing poverty and homelessness.
Decatur Education Foundation – to support the start of a microfinance program that will make loans to students for entrepreneurial projects.
Our House – to support the Early Childhood Education program.
Wylde Center – for a solar pump with water reclamation system to bring water to the garden.
The Global Village School – to provide transportation to school and related educational and volunteer resources in Decatur.
On the Same Page – for supplies for each child in the reading program.
Housing Authority of Decatur – for the STAR after-school program.
DeKalb History Center – to create an Exhibits Design workshop.
Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta – to provide instruction to the adults in the Family Literacy Program.
Ahimsa House – to provide shelter and vet care for pets while their owners stay at family violence shelters.
Woodlands Garden – to help plant 50 trees in Woodlands Garden.
Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool – to replace a chain link fence on the property.
DeKalb Rape Crisis Center – to provide four months of Crisis Line answering service costs.
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I love how drinking beer can bring so much joy.
These all sound like great organizations but I had never heard of Ahimsa House. What a really great thing they’re doing! Again, they’re all doing great work but this one just struck me as something I never thought of but now realize there’s an obvious need.
Wow– that’s a lot of good being spread around. Glad we got to be a part of it this year. Doing good with good beer: win-win!
Breaking news from the Patch? Ha. The checks were handed out at the Decatur Business Association meeting at the Courtyard six weeks ago.
Still happy to see the Beer Festival’s good works being publicized.
Heh? Who said anything about breaking news?
I was being sarcastic. Actually, when am I not being sarcastic?
Wow. I’m normally not a tasting festival fan at all, but I’m down for a ticket next time. Great causes!
I’ve always wondered how the math worked on these festivals.
There are 4,000 tickets sold at a price of $40.00 each, plus fees, leading to a total revenue of $160,000 for the festival. Then there are costs (permitting, fencing, tables, glasses, portapotties, flyers, shirts, bands, security). Most of the labor is volunteer. At the end of the day, $52,000! is left over for Decatur charities, which is awesome.
My only surprise is that the amount isn’t much higher. So which big expenses am I missing?
PS, if any of this sounds like a concern, it is not. It is purely intellectual curiosity.
Advertising, ticket sales and processing fees? Surely not all but the cc fees may take a chunk.
Let’s see…
There’s a bill from the Sanitation Department.
There’s a bill from the Police Department.
Festivals cost the City extra payroll. Security for a festival should not interfere with the normal security needs for the City
There’s a bill to some insurance company. Drunk people are liabilities. Liabilities need insurance.
And the beer isn’t free. Georgia law precludes free beer. Those distributors must be paid. So do the people with the dispensing carts. So do the people providing for the canned air that delivers the beer to the tap.
I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff.
So glad to have done my part. I’m just such a giver.
Glad to see that it was a success! I hope that this list generates some extra volunteers and donors for these great organizations.