SHELBURNE, Vermont— With another year of successful fundraising in 2023, Fiddlehead Brewing Company’s Team Mastermind recently donated over $125,000 in grants to a diverse group of organizations supporting pediatric health and broad community wellness.
Fiddlehead Brewing Company owners, Matt and Amy Cohen, started Team Mastermind in 2015 as part of their desire to be business owners engaged in their community. Inspired by their personal journey with their son Noah, now 17, who was born with a rare medical condition, Team Mastermind is an opportunity
to give back and pay it forward. Noah has received extensive medical care, including care at multiple major hospital systems in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania and has benefited from a wide variety of services and programs for children with complex health needs. As a result, the Cohen’s understand the important impact that these services have on children, their families and their broader communities and they are committed to using their successful business as a vehicle for ongoing philanthropic support.
Funds for Team Mastermind are generated primarily through the sales of Fiddlehead’s speciality product Mastermind Double IPA. Twenty-five percent of all sales of Mastermind are donated to charity. In addition, Fiddlehead also generated funds to support their philanthropic goals through special events throughout the year such as their Almost Summer Jam event at the Shelburne Brewery in May 2023 and their Trails Take Over Event at Pico Mountain last February.
“In addition to our ongoing appreciation for the customers in Vermont and throughout our distribution footprint who have so enthusiastically embraced Mastermind the product and the mission, we are especially grateful to our various partners including our wholesale partners in each region and the many accounts that pour Mastermind, who also host local events and often match donations.” said president/owner Matt (Matty O) Cohen.
Those partnerships are also critical in determining where and how funds are distributed. “ We have worked together with our partners in each region where Fiddlehead’s Mastermind Double IPA is sold to identify a local charity in their community which aligns with our interest in supporting pediatric health and related initiatives. In addition, we have worked with accounts and with our employees to identify other special funding opportunities that are meaningful to our team, our partners and the broader community.” shared Amy Cohen.
2023 Sales and events generated more than $125,000 which was granted to the following organizations this January and February:
Major Grant Recipients included:
$30,000 to University of Vermont Children’s Hospital
$10,000 Ronald McDonald House of Burlington
$10,000 Make A Wish Vermont
$10,500 Double H Ranch, New York
$3,200 Hope Community Services, New York
$6,000 to Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Connecticut
$2000 Red Hook Initiative, New York
$1000 to Camp Good Days, New York
$1000 to the Children’s Hospital of Buffalo Foundation, New York
$10,000 Make A Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island
$8,000 Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts
$5,000 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
$1,500 Ronald McDonald House of Central New York
$5,000 to Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire
$1000 to David’s House, New Hampshire
$850 Mohawk Valley Health Systems Pediatrics, New York
$13,000 Dana Farber Pediatric Cancer Services , Massachusetts
$3,500 to Children’s Specialized Hospital, New Jersey
$2000 Research for Ronan, Connecticut
Smaller donations were also made to the following organizations: Richard Kemp Center, Brian Miller Music Foundation, Howard Center- Street Outreach, Women Safe of Addison County, Jenna’s Promise, Special Olympics VT, Spectrum Youth Services, Outright VT, Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation.
Since its inception Fiddlehead and Team Mastermind have donated over $750,000 and they are looking ahead to a successful 2024 effort and beyond. “ Being able to support the communities where we live and do business and support organizations and causes that are so meaningful to us is one of the great gifts and privileges of being a business owner and we feel so lucky to be in the position to do so”, Matt Cohen shared.
About Fiddlehead Brewing Company
Fiddlehead Brewing Company, located in Shelburne, VT, is a brewer-owned business with a simple approach: make great beer, hire passionate people, and ensure the beer is fresh and available on tap or in a cooler near you.
Fiddlehead Brewing Company products are distributed in VT, CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, and RI.
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