Philanthropy has always been a strong suit of the Bellingham brew scene. A couple weeks ago Melvin Brewing gave a dollar of every beer sold that day to Hurricane Harvey relief. Last week, Wander Brewing had their Community Tuesday proceeds go to Old Dog Haven, that provides homes loving homes for senior dogs that need them.

Events like this take place all over the brew halls of Bellingham, but starting October 4, five popular breweries in town will be supporting and raising awareness for the same cause for the entire month. That’s right, that day at the event called “Drink Out”, you can go enjoy your favorite pints at your favorite places and know that 10% of the price of the beer you are enjoying will go to the Northwest Youth Services Detour Street Outreach program.

This event includes Aslan Brewing Co., Boundary Bay Brewery, Chuckanut Brewery, Kulshan Brewing Co., and Wander Brewing. Not only are they donating the proceeds from beer sales on October 4, but for the rest of the month each brewery will be collecting donations.

According to Berit Dahl, Marketing Director at Aslan Brewing Co., each brewery will have a bin, crafted by Aslan, with a list of encouraged donation items. Items include but aren’t limited to; tents, tarps, sleeping bags, backpacks, warm and waterproof outdoor gear like coats, pants, hats and gloves, warm socks, and instant hot beverages and soups.

“We all just wanted to come together and bring some awareness to this cause.” Dahl said.

Northwest Youth Services (NWYS) supports young people in both Whatcom and Skagit counties, ages 13-24. Their services include emergency housing, street outreach, and transitional and permanent housing. Their street outreach program covers areas like Railroad Avenue, the Whatcom Transit bus station and other areas in the backyard of the participating breweries.

For some, outdoor gear is considered leisure gear. But if you’re a young person sleeping outside every night, these things become necessities. These are some “in-demand items” according to NWYS, and whether you are donating one of these at the participating breweries or looking for more information and ways to get involved at www.nwys.org, craft beer for a cause doesn’t sound like a bad way to give back.