Two Brothers and Otter Creek Join Forces to Feed the Needy

Author: Grag Duggan

Two Brothers Tavern, which opened for business in Middlebury just four and a half months ago, has decided to give something back to the community. Teaming up with Otter Creek Brewery, an older Middlebury business, Two Brothers will host a fundraiser for the Addison County Food Shelf this week.
A section of the Addison County Community Action Group (ACCAG), the Food Shelf helps to provide nourishment to impoverished citizens of Addison County.
Jeanne Montross, the executive director of ACCAG, explained in an interview with The Middlebury Campus, "There are a lot of people who don't have enough money to pay their bills and buy food."
The Food Shelf aids "people who are homeless and have nothing." Montross said the Food Shelf is "pretty busy year round," and has seen even more action this year and this winter, largely, she said, as a result of higher fuel prices and increased unemployment.
On average, the Food Shelf serves about 4,000 people each year.
Two Brothers Tavern has strong roots in the Middlebury area. Holmes and Beal Jacobs, the two owners, as well as floor manager Megan Brady, grew up in the community.
When the three sat down to plan a fundraiser, Brady said they "wanted to do something that was a little bit more local, versus giving to something a bit broader like the United Way or the Red Cross.
We definitely wanted to do something that was Middlebury oriented." Originally thinking of donating to something in the educational field, Two Brothers eventually decided upon the Food Shelf after listening to the opinions of friends who work in social services. Brady said their "conclusion was pretty much unanimous that, first and foremost, you need food in order to get by.
We thought the food shelter was perfect because we were really interested in helping people that couldn't help themselves at this time of year."
A friendship had grown between Two Brothers and Otter Creek Brewery, so the businesses decided to work together on the fundraiser. Brady said Morgan Wolaver, the president of Otter Creek, has "a very charitable [personality]," so the idea for the fundraiser "just sort of evolved naturally over many conversations with him."
Wolaver told The Campus that the recommendation for the fundraiser "really made sense to us.
It had to do with providing needy people with food, which you have to have to survive."
After settling the matter, Brady said, "We tried to put our heads together and figure out, between our two products and our establishments, the best way to raise money in a week's time."
They decided to hold a raffle, which will take place on Friday, March 7, at Two Brothers Tavern. Wolaver and the Jacobs brothers will host the raffle and give away a pair of skis, two $50 gift certificates to Two Brothers, a Black Diamond fleece with the Otter Creek logo and T-shirts.
Raffle tickets will be on sale this week at the Tavern and the brewery for $3 each, or two for $5. In addition to the raffle, patrons at Two Brothers can order a pint of Otter Creek or Wolaver Ale, served in custom pint glasses that will be theirs to keep, courtesy of Otter Creek Brewery.
Two Brothers will donate the proceeds of these sales to the Food Shelf. In addition, anyone who brings a non-perishable food item will receive 25 percent off the price of his or her meal.
A representative from the Food Shelf will be at the raffle on Friday to accept the money raised and food collected during the week.
Fundraisers for the Food Shelf take place throughout the year and donations come from various sources, but they are typically received around the holidays.
At this time of year a fundraiser is, in Montross' words, "especially welcome."
Praising Two Brothers and Otter Creek, Montross said, "Every single can or box of food that we get is important, and when people do food collections like this as fundraisers, they're actually helping to prevent homelessness."
When asked about goals for the fundraiser, Brady stressed the difficulty in predicting any results, particularly because this will be Two Brothers' first fundraiser.
She explained, "We're just hoping that people come out and rally for this and get really excited about it.
We recognize that we're perhaps holding it at a tough time of year, but that was part of the incentive for us, to hold it at a time when people can't grow their own food."
Wolaver emphasized "bringing awareness of the food shelter to the community" as one of the goals.