#GIVETHANKSRVA: This Weekend You Can Help RVA’s Homeless By Drinking Beer!

The people that live, work, and play in Richmond make this a great city. We have illustrators, brewmeisters, actors, musicians, chefs, a giant flying squirrel, you name it. Pretty impressive when you look back just a short distance into the past. So, lets take a look back--way back. In the study of life many scientists emphasize the importance of the Cambrian explosion, the time when life seemed to suddenly burst into many varieties in rapid succession about 530 million years ago. Look at how far we've come since then--everything from molds to ducks to penguins to you and me. Well, similarly speaking, there’s a good chance that we’re experiencing a cultural version of the Cambrian explosion here in the river city.

In the past decade we've seen a tremendous amounts of changes in the way we think about ourselves. The booming art scene, vibrant museums, breweries, various athletic activities, a thriving nightlife, sports teams, and much more have all become a regular occurrence here, seemingly in a pretty short time. However, taking a tip from the story and flow of life, perhaps the citizens here could also acknowledge the vast unknown future that this explosion has yet to produce. That notion reminds me that we currently have a golden opportunity to shape the future like never before.

Technology and an immensely diverse and growing community make it nearly impossible for anyone to run out of options for new things to try, new ideas to hatch, new friends to make, and new goals to set. While we explore these new happenings, we must keep in mind that there are still daily needs for a healthy city that often go ignored because, well, they’re the real-life tough issues that can’t be cutely marketed, hash-tagged, and solved in a jiffy. While we are exploring these new connections and cultural growths, we must take time to acknowledge the incredibly hard-working people that battle some of the city’s most difficult problems every single day. The humanitarian services are one of the most vital parts of keeping a community strong, vibrant, and healthy. They are a part like all the rest. We need musicians, comedians, chefs, and other such careers as well; the city’s diversity is contingent on us all having our part. While we can carry on with our paths, we also have the ability to occasionally slow down and take a moment to give thanks to those that do the many things that we do not.

With that said, I am proud to announce a fun new campaign that me and the rest of the folks at My Glasses Rule, Overcoast, and Hardywood Brewery have dreamed-up together to celebrate the diversity of this town while giving thanks to one of the city’s unsung heroes, HomeAgain. This non-profit emergency shelter and homeless service provider works around the clock to provide service to the many homeless citizens of Richmond. An energized and devoted staff runs this organization every single day of the year. This year, we want to take a moment to stop and thank them for the amazing work they do by launching our community development campaign, #GiveThanksRVA. This is the first year we are doing this and we could not be more excited to have the opportunity to help the lovely folks at HomeAgain. This is how it works and here’s where you can help.

From Friday Nov 22 – Sunday Nov 24, Hardywood Brewery has been generous enough to donate proceeds from beer sales directly to HomeAgain. The beer’s worth the trip alone, but there's a whole weekend’s worth of happenings that will show off this town’s cultural diversity and allow you to drink a beer for a great cause. The weekend is going to be awesome. Friday Nov 22 Exebelle and the Rusted Cavalcade will grace the stage, Saturday Nov 23 we’ll have Hypercolor and The Trillions making a beautiful commotion, and on Sunday Nov 24 the Richmond Comedy Coalition will attempt to make beer come out your nose. This is going to be a great weekend and it’ll help a fantastic organization. We’re asking you help by letting people know that our city is in good hands when we have good people looking out for one another. HomeAgain does amazing work everyday and we’re asking you to join us as we #givethanksrva!