An organization dedicated to Brooklyn’s diverse and delectable cuisine will pay it forward next week — while indulging in a few adult beverages — at its first-ever Giving Tuesday bar crawl.
The crawl will snake its way through a number of Franklin Avenue watering holes starting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29 — all in a concerted effort to to support student-run family farm stands, free soccer events, Hip2B Healthy Cafes and more.
Those interested in throwing a few back for a noble cause can register to participate by giving to Tastes of Brooklyn’s Giving Tuesday fundraiser.
“Giving Tuesday is this global generosity movement where people are supposed to spend after Black Friday and Thanksgiving and donate,” said Tastes of Brooklyn organizer Nancie Katz told Brooklyn Paper.
Katz said that, while Giving Tuesday raises hundreds of millions of dollars for charities across the globe, the annual day of giving is typically geared towards larger institutions, organizations and charitable movements. She hopes the Giving Tuesday bar crawl will help bring some of those dollars back home to Brooklyn — specifically to local not-for-profit Seeds in the Middle.
“One of the issues with Giving Tuesday is that often the charities that are most able to get money on that are the biggest ones who have dedicated people for fundraising. Small community-based organizations like ours don’t really get the big money from donors,” she said.
According to its mission, Seeds in the Middle aims to inspire parents, educators, students and their community to access all opportunities beginning with improving their health, enhancing arts education and greening their environment via student-run farm stands, cafes and gardens.
Katz hopes the Franklin Avenue drink-fest can help the group continue to invest “in arts to empower the communities and food deserts themselves to create healthier places to live and learn.”
Participating bars include Centanni, Crown Inn, Drink, Franklin 820, Island Seas and Mayfield.
Bar crawl participants are also encouraged to vote for their personal favorite seasonal cocktails, and participate in a raffle for one or two exciting prizes at the end of the crawl.
But the giving is twofold, according to organizers. Participating bars will also benefit from the crawl, with profits from the night being split between them and Seeds in the Middle. A map of which establishments will benefit from Seeds in the Middle is available here.
Tastes of Brooklyn was established in 2011 to help support growing Brooklyn restaurants and chefs.
