Ska Brewing and ska music fans from all over the country anxiously awaited the Colorado craft brewer’s sold out 22nd anniversary party. Year after year in early September, Ska beer and ska music lovers swarm to southwest Colorado in celebration of the craft-brewing pioneer. This year, without warning, Hurricane Irma had plans to wreak havoc in Florida that weekend. Her ripple effect traveled across the country.
Ska Brewing had originally enlisted Gainesville, Florida-based ska band Less Than Jake to headline the anniversary party. The partners had been planning for nearly a year on the big weekend, when suddenly Irma got in the path of getting the band to Colorado safely, not to mention leaving their families in harm’s way. Ska had to switch gears when the call came in that Less Than Jake could not make the event.
Without their headliner present and knowing they were in the line of fire in Florida, Ska acted quickly. The party went on, but this time with an added cause.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Less Than Jake families and all who have been affected by these recent natural disasters. Their concerns are far greater than many of us may ever know,” said Ska CEO and Co-Founder Dave Thibodeau. “While we were bummed Less Than Jake wouldn’t be here, we knew there was only one way for the Ska tribe to handle the situation: throw one Hell of a party and send the proceeds to hurricane relief. And that’s exactly what we did.”
Denver-based band Dendrites packed up and rushed to Durango for the weekend to make sure there was still great live music for partygoers. Ska Brewing fans rallied to support those in need across the country. The silver lining is that this event gathered over 1500 people and raised $28,000. Ska divided up $18,000 between three local Florida charities- Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Humane Society of the US Disaster Relief Fund and Volunteer Florida – Florida Disaster Fund.
The remaining $10,000 went to the La Plata County Open Space Conservancy, Ska’s long-time beneficiary and partner. “We are so very grateful for what Ska brings to our quality of life in Durango, and their dedication to protecting the land and water our community loves,” said La Plata Open Space Conservancy Executive Director, Amy Schwarzbach.
In addition, Ska also participated in the #ReliefBeer efforts on 9/8 organized by St. Arnold and donated $1 from every pint sold to the Houston Food Bank. This contribution totaled over $540.
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