Hangar 24 Charities tops $100K for San Bernardino Victims

The centerpiece of the fundraising plan, headed by Hangar 24 Charities, was the event across the street from the Redlands Municipal Airport that was attended by some survivors of the incident, family members of victims, as well as first responders from both police and fire departments and civic leaders.

The event included 14 different beers, nine musical acts and a food truck, and drew an estimated crowd of 3,500 despite cold temperatures throughout the day and into the evening. That event raised $64,436.65 alone, far exceeding the original goal of $30,000.

“The opportunity to meet and see family members intermingle with each other was an emotional experience,” Hangar 24 owner and founder Ben Cook said. “And seeing the community rally for the cause, in such strong numbers, was uplifting. The response to an event like this, on such short notice and in poor weather, was nothing short of amazing. A huge debt of gratitude goes to all those who helped put on the event, those that attended and to all distributors who donated.”

In addition to the more than $64,000 raised by the event, another $1,700 was collected from Hangar 24 online merchandise sales on Dec. 26. The brewery is donating all money collected on the day, minus sales tax, meaning that all cost and profit will go to the effort.

In-kind donors that made the event a success include: Johnson Caterpillar, Creative Media & Design, Cibur Sounds Production Company, Atlas Buying Group Inc., Party Plus Redlands, Fun Artists, P&R Paper Supply Co., Hunter Media, Clean Relief Portable, JoJo’s Grill-A-Dog, Johnson Power, Clean Relief, CSC Security, KCAL Radio, KOLA Radio and K-FROG Radio.

“In the aftermath of the attack in San Bernardino, I’ve continuously been in admiration of the resiliency and compassion of our community,” Congressman Pete Aguilar said. “The way families came together at Hangar 24 was no different, and what I’m sure we can expect to see as we stand together and move forward in the weeks and months ahead.”

There was no denying the sense of community at the Dec. 26 event.

“I’ve always known our community was strong, but I’ve never been more proud to be from San Bernardino than I was watching our residents display such unwavering support for one another in a time of grave tragedy,” Assemblyman Marc Steinorth said. “I thank everyone who made this event possible and to our brave first responders, I thank you and your families for your continued sacrifice.”

A separate fundraising effort was conducted among the brewery’s network of 25 distributors, seven of which have contributed $5,000 to date. The group of $5,000 contributors includes: Ace Beverage Co. of Los Angeles, Advance Beverage Co. of Bakersfield, Gate City Beverage of San Bernardino, Delta Sierra Beverage of Modesto, Markstein Beverage Co. of Sacramento, R&S Beverage Co. of Adelanto and Triangle Distributing Co. of Santa Fe Springs. Others contributing include: Alford Distributing Co. of Imperial, Craft Beer Guild Distributing of San Diego, Foothill Distributing Co. of Redding and Golden Eagle Distributors of Tucson, Arizona.

A third effort, which is raising funds through other breweries, also is ongoing. Hamilton Family Brewery of Rancho Cucamonga already has contributed $2,000 through that effort. Others that have committed to raising funds include: I & I Brewing of Chino, Escape Craft Brewery of Redlands, Wild Donkey of Redlands, Skyland Ale Works of Corona, Brew Rebellion of San Bernardino, Packinghouse Brewing Company of Riverside, No Clue Craft Brewery of Rancho Cucamonga, Sons of Liberty Aleworks of Norco, Dale Bros. Brewery of Pomona, Inland Empire Brewery Tours of Riverside and Council Brewing Company of San Diego.