California Breweries Come to Aid Fire Victims

Stone Brewing’s distributing division, Stone Distributing Co., will donate a portion of its sales throughout the month of October to benefit those affected by the devastation of the Northern California fires. Donations will be made to Direct Relief providing emergency assistance to California’s Office of Emergency Services, the Napa County Public Health Department and more than 40 health centers and clinics in the affected region.

Also, Bear Republic Brewing will be donating 50 cents on every case of beer sold, for the next 30 days, to raise funds to help those affected by the devastating Sonoma County Fires.

“Many of our employees and family members have lost their homes and have little to rely on,” the brewery said in a statement. “We are reaching out to our Wholesalers and asking for their support through matching funds up to 0.50 cents per case or a one time donation. We thank all our suppliers and distributors for their kind words and prayers. Thanks for your continued support during these difficult times and be safe.”

Stone Distributing Co. is responsible for the distribution of independent craft and specialty beers throughout all of Southern California. Alongside the self-distribution of Stone Brewing beers, the company also proudly represents 38 craft and specialty beers from California, across the US and the world. These include Sonoma County’s Bear Republic Brewing and Russian River Brewing Company, since 2001 and 2005, respectively.


“We have spoken with Richard Norgrove Sr. and Jr. of Bear Republic, and Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo of Russian River and verified that they are personally OK and that their businesses are safe,” said Dominic Engels, Stone Brewing CEO. “However, they have many employees, colleagues, friends, family and neighbors who have been dramatically affected in this historically tragic set of Northern California wildfires. We cannot sit idle with such devastation at hand.”

The thoughts of many Southern Californians this week are with their Northern California brothers and sisters, especially at Stone Brewing, where the team is anticipating the opening of its Napa brewery this December. With a tragedy of such huge proportion, Stone is taking immediate action.

For the month of October (retroactive to October 1):

For every case of Bear Republic and Russian River beer sold by Stone Distributing Co., the company will donate $0.25.
Stone will further donate $0.25 for every case of Stone Brewing beer sold in Southern California.
Stone Brewing will donate $0.15 for every case of Stone beer sold via its wholesale distribution partners throughout the rest of California.

What’s more, in an act of amazing solidarity that is characteristic of the independent craft brewing community, many other craft beer brands distributed by Stone Distributing Co. have committed to splitting a donation of $0.25 per case for the entire month.

Stone Distributing Co. anticipates that this effort will allow the company to donate more than $50,000 to the cause.

“Russian River and Bear Republic are incredibly appreciative of all the support Stone Distributing Co. and its partner breweries are giving Sonoma County,” expressed Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing Company Owner / Brewer. “Additionally, Russian River and Bear Republic are also doing their own fund raising efforts to help those in need.”

To date, Stone Brewing has donated more than $3.3 million to charity. In addition, Stone Brewing is donating $1 of every pint or growler fill of Stone Delicious IPA to Direct Relief to aid Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico. The campaign continues throughout the month of October at all Stone Brewing locations. In September, the company donated proceeds to the Houston Food Bank via a similar campaign aiding Hurricane Harvey victims.

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