Lifestyle

Bartenders Work Hard for a Cause (and of course have fun!)

We all know that bartenders like to have a good time.  But our hard-working bartending community is also socially conscious and is giving back to the community, one party at a time! Three years ago when a group of bartenders went to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, they decided to throw a casual bbq in the park with cocktail punches and pork.  But in 2010 New Orleans was in the wake of the oil spill and they wanted to be able to help.  How could a group of bartenders help?  Pig & Punch! Created by the Bon Vivants, a San Francisco-based bartending team, the plan was to first put in the manual labor and then also give back by doing what they do best - throwing a party.  In 2010, eleven volunteers spent time helping to build a house.  "By being hands on, it links the people to the place that need help" explained one of Pig & Punch's founders, Josh Harris of The Bon Vivants.  At the free bbq, open to the bartending community as well as local inhabitants, tshirts were sold with the Pig & Punch logo, raising $1600.  The money benefited the KIPPS Charter Schools arts and music programs.  The following  year, in 2011, 42 volunteers helped to build and paint houses in New Orleans. Then at the bbq, 550 tshirts were sold, raising $6600 for the Kingsley House.