Saint Arnold Brewing raises $12,000 for animal shelter

Oversized novelty check presentations are already great. Even better when they are for charity.

Saint Arnold Brewing Co. is thanking the craft beer community for its support of its Ale Wagger initiative. Saint Arnold Founder/Brewer Brock Wagner presented a check for $12,000 to Adrianna Fitzpatrick, marketing and outreach supervisor at BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions (pictured above). The funds were raised through the sale of Saint Arnold Ale Wagger, an award-winning brown ale. One dollar from each case of Saint Arnold Ale Wagger is earmarked to support local animal welfare organizations.

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Saint Arnold launched the Ale Wagger initiative in September 2014 to raise funds for animal welfare organizations, encourage responsible pet ownership and urge the craft beer community to adopt homeless animals. Since the launch, the brewery has partnered with more than a dozen organizations throughout Texas, Louisiana and Florida. In the coming months, brewery officials will present donations representing a portion of proceeds from the sale of Ale Wagger in each market.

This initial donation will support the City of Houston’s BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions spay/neuter initiatives.

“Our love for our own animals combined with the problem Houston has with stray and unwanted dogs and cats led us to create the Ale Wagger initiative,” Wagner said. “The Saint Arnold community support is what makes this donation possible. We are excited to be part of the answer here and in all communities where our beer is sold. My family’s three rescue dogs and four rescue cats also endorse these efforts.”

The Saint Arnold Ale Wagger initiative is just the latest example of the brewery’s philanthropic spirit. Over the past three years, the Saint Arnold team in the BP MS150 raised more than $1 million for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The Brewery’s annual Feast of Saint Arnold raised more than $60,000 last year for Texas Children’s Hospital’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. Additionally, Saint Arnold has donated more than $85,000 to the Galveston Historical Foundation from the sale of Saint Arnold Elissa IPA, which supports the upkeep and repair of the beer’s namesake, the tall ship ELISSA.