MillerCoors presented checks to several LGBT non-profits Feb. 16 at its Chicago headquarters as the culmination of last summer's "Great Cents Challenge." Participating gay bars selected LGBT charities to benefit from sales of MillerCoors products.
At the event, non-profit representatives and those from MillerCoors and its distributors joined bar owners and managers.
The challenge raised $15,000, which will be funneled to the charities on behalf of the distributors, retailers (the Chicago bars that participated) and MillerCoors. They raised the money by setting aside 15 cents from the sale of every MillerCoors product sold at the participating bars.
The participating bars were: T's, sofo, The Glenwood Bar, Sidetrack, The North End, Spin and Roscoe's. The benefiting agencies were Lesbian Community Care Project (LCCP) of Howard Brown Health Center (HBHC), HBHC itself, HBHC's Broadway Youth Center, Chicago House and Affinity Community Services.
During the check presentation, Doug Sanborn, brand manager for multicultural marketing—LGBT for MillerCoors, explained why the company was a partner for this event. He said MillerCoors CEO Leo Kiely put forth a challenge with this statement: "We work in this community, we live in this community, so we need to partner in this community." Sanborn thanked Chicago Beverage Systems, one of the distributors, as well as the bars.
Sanborn said the company no longer does "sponsorships" but rather "partnerships" with the community.
"It just warms my heart," Sanborn said. "It's an amazing event because it is truly what the community is about, partnering. We very easily could have set aside a certain amount of dollars and just given it away, but we said no let's work with our partners. So we reached out to local bars and said to them, help us help the community. We asked, who should we work with? We thought what a great way to do it since we are new to the community. We've only been here in town for a couple of years [as a merged company] and it really gives us the opportunity to be sincere in our desire to help local organizations."
Mary Lou Polcyn, who has been with Chicago Beverage Systems for 15 years as director of customer service and liaison in the LGBT Community, said she was "thrilled with the commitment that MillerCoors has made in the LGBT community. They have always been great partners with Chicago Beverage Systems. Now that the headquarters for MillerCoors is in Chicago and the joint venture we have with MillerCoors is getting stronger, it's very exciting to reach out to the community through the charities in Chicago."
Colm Treacy, owner of T's, Sofo and The Glenwood bars, selected LCCP. "It is a great opportunity to work with MillerCoors and the community to raise money for the community," Treacy said.
Daisy Lynn Mertzel, director of community relations at Howard Brown Health Center, said the recognition and support they are receiving through this event speaks volumes regarding MillerCoors commitment to what LCCP does as an organization. Her colleague, Christina Santiago, manager of programming at LCCP, said "Colm and the entire T's family has been such a huge supporter of LCCP … so we are all a part of the same family and are happy to continue this relationship."
Sidetrack raised money for both Affinity Community Services and Broadway Youth Center. Chuck Hyde, one of Sidetrack's co-owners, said, "We are very proud of MillerCoors and now that they have their headquarters in Chicago they have reached out to our community. They are partnering with us all the time in many different ways and this is just one significant one they did last summer. We want them to make a nice beginning in Chicago so they can grow with our growing community."
Michele Miller of Affinity said, "this is an awesome day and I am so honored. I want to thank Sidetrack for thinking of Affinity when it came to donating the funds from MillerCoors. It's an honor and we really appreciate Sidetrack's faith in us."
George Nichols, manager of the Boystown bar North End, said it originally partnered with Better Existence for HIV, but since that agency folded it is looking for another organization. Nichols said he appreciated MillerCoors for holding this challenge last summer as well as the company's commitment to the community.
Spin Nightclub owner Dave Gassman said he was thrilled to help Chicago House since the agency does such great work in the community. Michael Herman, who is the development director of Chicago House, said, "All of our corporate sponsors are fantastic, including Spin who is looking out for us and is very helpful to us. Those kinds of cooperative events allow us to grow and thrive as an organization."
Roscoe's General Manager Brenden Chrisman thanked MillerCoors while Shawn Hazen, the nightspot's promotions and marketing manager, said "This program that MillerCoors has put together to give to charities is great. Howard Brown has been so involved in our community and based in our community so it was without question who we were giving our money to."
Also attending were two representatives from the board of the group hosting the Gay Softball World Series in Chicago this summer. Board President Ted Cappas and Larry Kuhn, the group's director of sponsorships and partnership, attended because of their relationship with MillerCoors. "We really want to create an integrated partnership with the community before, during and after the World Series," Kuhn said. Cappas added, "This goes along with what Doug said about not just giving money and walking away. It's about having a relationship and partnering to help the community in a positive way. That is one thing we are proud of with the World Series, which is the charity aspect where any leftover proceeds will be given to charity. We are hoping to raise $20,000 during the series to help the local community."
The check presentations were made at the company's Fred and Adolph's Pub, and approximately 75 people attended the event.
In next week's issue, Windy City Times will profile Doug Sanborn, the brand manager of multicultural and LGBT relations for Miller-Coors.
