August 2, 2022 – The Central Valley Brewers Guild, a non-profit composed of central valley breweries, has launched a significant fundraising effort to benefit the employees of Riley’s Brewing Company employees who lost their jobs to a major fire last week. The fire destroyed the brewery’s production facility in Madera. The guild will raise funds in three formats: a collaboration beer with 100% of proceeds going to the fund, a beer festival in downtown Fresno comprised of guild members, and a GoFundMe page where anyone can contribute any amount to the employee relief fund.
The Guild has created a GoFundMe page to raise funds that can immediately be distributed to those who are no longer employed due to the fire. Julian Bencomo, CEO of Riley’s Brewing, describes how “Riley’s Brewing has suffered a life-changing tragedy which left our brewing and production team without jobs. These are hard-working families that could use support”. All donations will go directly to the displaced employees.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/rileys-brewing-employee-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1
On August 27th, the Guild will host a festival in Downtown Fresno on Fulton Street. All proceeds will go to funds benefiting the employees displaced by the catastrophic fire. Ticket information and a list of participating breweries is expected to be released in the following week. The Brewers Guild hopes that the Fresno craft beer community will join in supporting Riley’s Brewing team members during this difficult time.
Guild members will collaborate on a beer to be released throughout the central valley on draft and in cans, with all proceeds going to the relief fund for the displaced Riley’s Brewing employees. Details on the beer, where it can be found, and when it will be released in the coming weeks by all participating breweries. Bencomo adds, “knowing the community is looking out for our displaced workers is heartwarming.”
