Kate The Great 2012 – How To Do Good While Drinking Well

A local brewpub is releasing a rare beer to the public and proceeds from the sale to area non-profits.

(Portsmouth, NH)  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Portsmouth Brewery is pleased to announce donations to five Seacoast non-profit organizations as part of its annual “Kate The Great Day” celebration.  The Center for Wildlife (Cape Neddick, ME), The Great Works Regional Land Trust (Ogunquit, ME), Sexual Assault Support Services and 3S Artspace (both of Portsmouth) will each receive $5000, while the Southeast Land Trust (Exeter) will receive $10,000.  Four of this year’s recipients were determined by a vote of the Brewery’s staff, who chose to support a diverse array of causes.

“We’re thrilled to be honored and I think this is a really creative way for the Brewery to address the high demand for their wonderful product and support some local charities,” said Brian Hunt, Executive Director of the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire, “it’s really inventive and creative and we appreciate it.”

The funds were raised through a scratch ticket lottery with 2,000 bottles of “Kate the Great,” a Russian Imperial Stout, named “Best Beer in America” and “#2 Beer in the World” by BeerAdvocate Magazine, as the prizes.  This year, beer enthusiasts snapped up all 15,000 tickets in about 20 hours.

“We introduced scratch tickets last year to alleviate blocks-long lines from the Market Street sidewalk that accompanied each Kate Day,” said Peter Egelston, owner of Portsmouth Brewery, “we wanted to be less intrusive to our downtown neighbors and the donations were a natural extension of our desire to ‘do good while drinking well.’  This community has been very supportive of us and we were fortunate to have this chance to return the goodwill.” The brewery also raises funds through its Community Pint Day event each Tuesday and last year began sponsoring community service projects.

2012’s Kate the Great Day took place on Monday March 5.  Doors opened at 11:00 am and the ceremonial “tapping of the Kate” took place at 11:30.  Representatives from all five non-profits were on hand to try the beer.  Much like the scratch tickets, draft Kate sold out very quickly; with all 317 gallons sold out in five hours and fifteen minutes.

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The Portsmouth Brewery, New Hampshire’s original brewpub, has been serving great food and award-winning, handcrafted beers in a friendly, lively atmosphere since 1991.

Our Non-Profit Beneficiaries:

About the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire: Our mission is simple: to conserve the significant lands and natural resources of greater Rockingham County, including farmland, working forests, water, wildlife habitat and natural areas, and community landscapes.

About SASS: Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) has been serving survivors of sexual violence since 1979 when we incorporated as a NH 501(c)(3) non-profit agency serving sexual assault victims in Rockingham, Strafford and southern York counties. Their program began with a 24-hour rape crisis hotline and one part-time staffer who trained volunteer advocates to accompany victims at hospital emergency rooms, police investigations, and court appointments.  For over three decades, the agency’s work has expanded to serve adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, as well as their non-offending parents, partners and friends. As community demands increased, services grew to include support groups for partners and parents of survivors group, sexual assault support groups and a support group for teens who have been sexually victimized. In addition, the agency has provided professional programs to educate the community about the issue of sexual violence.

About 3S Artspace: 3S Artspace, a 501c3 non-profit, is dedicated to presenting and supporting contemporary artists and their work in order to stimulate the artistic community and creatively engage and educate the public at large, while establishing a vital and accessible regional gathering space. Through diverse, high-quality programming across multiple media, 3S will present on our stage and in our gallery, nationally and internationally recognized artists and their work to the Seacoast community, as well as the work of local and regional artists, with a particular focus on emerging, innovative, and/or unconventional arts. 3S is committed to presenting a broad spectrum of events that will be both accessible and affordable to the widest possible audience. Beyond the presentation of art, 3S aspires to be a vital and central gathering place in the Seacoast community: the restaurant at 3S will be the beating heart of the organization, providing artists and others affordable creative fare, as well as opportunities for professional development, networking, and the exchange and discussion of ideas.

About The Great Works Regional Land Trust: The mission of the Great Works Regional Land Trust is to conserve the value of our natural, historic, agricultural, forestry, scenic and recreational resources.  We pursue this mission by holding property and conservation easements where these values are present and by promoting the need and value of conservation through education and other related activities.

Our work is concentrated in the southern Maine towns of Eliot, South Berwick, Berwick, North Berwick, Wells and Ogunquit. Since our inception in 1986, the Trust has completed 84 projects conserving over 4100 acres.

About The Center For Wildlife: For twenty-three years, our wildlife rehabilitation facility, its staff and volunteers have provided medical care, safe sanctuary and humane treatment for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife until they can be released back into the wild.  The Center for Wildlife is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to rehabilitate and provide sanctuary for sick and injured wild animals, and to promote respect for wildlife and the environment.

We provide the full range of treatment services needed to rehabilitate birds, mammals and reptiles; assisting the public with issues relating to wildlife; and providing educational and outreach programs to promote knowledge and appreciation of wild animals and the habitats they depend on for survival.

The Center’s mission also extends to providing information and education to children, students, adults and the general public – raising awareness of the many wonderful wild species that live among us and a heightened sensitivity to the impacts humans have on their lives.