Sales of brewery’s Lakota-themed ale help schools foundation

Grainworks Brewing Company is donating a portion of its specially-brewed beer, Lakota Thunderbird-Red Ale to help the local schools.

The brewery partnered in June with Lakota Schools and the Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty to support Lakota Schools Foundation, which was established in 2017 to build a sustainable source of funding for current and future needs in the district that surpass normal budget constraint

Steven Brock, Grainworks Brewing’s founder and COO, presented a check for $1,977 to the Lakota Schools Foundation on Nov. 27, Giving Tuesday, an international day of charitable giving at the start of the Christmas and holiday season.

The fundraising effort at Grainworks Brewing Company’s taproom, 7790 Service Center Drive in West Chester Twp., dedicates $1 of every $6 pint of the specially-brewed ale to the Lakota Schools Foundation.

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The name Thunderbird-Red Ale pays tribute to the Lakota High School team name before the school split into two schools in 1998, Lakota East going with the "Thunderhawks" moniker and Lakota West with the "Firebirds" name.

“We’ve always known that we want to be a part of the community and this fell into the perfect scenario of how better to reach parents and the community itself,” Brock said. “We’re promoting ourselves as a local hangout spot for the community to come together and socialize … so it kind of was killing two birds with one stone where we can not only bring the community together but at the same time be giving back in doing so.”

A Thunderbird merchandise line including T-shirts and glassware was also held to generate additional dollars for the Lakota Foundation.

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At this point, Grainworks has no intention of stopping the ale-sale promotion, Brock said.

The company asks that local community bars and restaurants purchasing the ale donate 50 cents for each pint sold, he said.

“We’ve had quite a few restaurants around here that have taken it on and served it,” Brock said.

The Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty is “blessed to have such a wonderful partner in Grainworks” to help support a strong future for Lakota schools, according to Erin Clemons, the foundation’s president and CEO.

“They truly care about this community and have demonstrated their commitment by supporting the Lakota Schools Foundation with the specially-brewed Lakota Thunderbird beer,” Clemons told the Journal-News. “Not only does their monetary donation from the sale of Thunderbird help build the Lakota Schools Foundation, their leadership is helping to spread the word throughout the community, and that is equally as valuable.”

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