BATCH BREWING CO.
Sometimes doing good is part of living the good life. At least that’s the case with Batch Brewing Company’s Feelgood Tap, a program that gives $2 from each pint of a select monthly tap to a nonprofit of the company’s choosing.
Hostel Detroit, the August recipient of Feelgood Tap’s funds, will receive proceeds for its bike share program for travelers. “People visit Detroit from other countries, and they don’t know the landscape,” Batch Brewing Company owner, Stephen Roginson, explains. Detroit’s limited transportation options can pose difficulties for travelers that are used to or expecting mass transportation.
Roginson says that charitable giving to local organizations was always part of the plan for Batch Brewing Company. Starting when they drew up their business plan three years ago.
“We want to make giving to the community a big part of what we do,” Roginson says. Inspired by his mother’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, Feelgood Tap initially gave to MS awareness but has primarily focused on local nonprofits, including St. Francis Cabrini Clinic of Detroit and the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation’s summer camp program; through the program. The brewery has raised over $12,000 for various nonprofits since February.
By early 2016, the giving program will become its own entity as a 501(c)3 that breweries and pubs outside of Detroit can use to give back. The idea, Roginson explains, is to expand how much money the program can raise for nonprofit organizations. “The scope will extend to make it relevant for everyone participating, even beyond Michigan,” he says, citing interest from Ohio, Maine, and even Canada. On one level, Feelgood Tap exists to build camaraderie around a cause, but Roginson sees greater potential for what the program can offer: “It’s a great conversation for the community to be having about how we consume, how we spend money, and how it affects the community.”
To learn more about Feelgood Tap, visit batchbrewingcompany.com or stop by for its next brew at 1400 Porter St., Detroit.
