Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1472485
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JULY 6 - 12, 2022 UCW 15 Supporting local businesses and nonprofits is important to Gaston Brewing Company Founder and CEO Troy Rassmussen. After speaking to his team, they decided to create an event this sum- mer that would be fun for the whole family while also supporting the com- munity. "We wanted to do an event that would feature local vendors, lo- cal food, obviously local beverage, which was provided by us. And most of all, we wanted to partner with a local nonprofit organization to bring awareness to their cause and to help potentially raise some funds in sup- port of what they're doing," Rassmus- sen told Up & Coming Weekly. e nonprofit they chose was the Fayetteville Animal Protection Society — Cumberland County's only no-kill nonprofit animal shelter. e FAPS mission is "to provide a licensed, no-kill shelter for homeless animals until adopted into a loving and caring lifetime environment; to reduce the population of stray ani- mals and to promote responsible pet ownership. FAPS receives no govern- ment funding and relies solely on the generosity of individuals and busi- nesses to fund its lifesaving work," according to their website. All profits from the multiple raffle drawings at the event will be donated to the FAPS. Some prizes for the raffle include gas gift cards, an indoor climbing package, local businesses' items and dancing lessons at Roland's Dance Studio. Rassmussen says there will be all types of vendors, boutiques, food and kid-friendly activities at the event. Some of the food trucks that have been named for the event include Big Chiefs Food Truck and Pelican Snow- balls. Local musician Ethan Hanson will be performing at the event. For kids, Rassmussen says they are working on getting a kids zone sec- tion that will be a safe place for kids to play. Some planned activities include a possible petting zoo, a splash pad and various games. "It's going to be primarily an outdoor event," Rassmussen said. "So we'll have plenty for people to do and see and hopefully raise money for a good cause." FAPS will be out at Shops N' Hops and bringing some of the animals they have available for adoption. While it won't be same-day adoption, Rassmussen hopes that the people who will come and see the animals will hopefully think about adopting. "So it'll be a great opportunity for people to come and meet the fine folks at FAPS, and hopefully, maybe one of the pups that they bring will find a new home," Rassmussen said. Rassmussen hopes these Shops N' Hops events will continue as a regular event at Gaston's. "I think the idea is we would like to do this, you know, quarterly or maybe seasonally and choose a different nonprofit each time,"- Rassmussen said. Shops N' Hops will take place on July 15 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Gaston Brewing Taproom. e event is free and is geared toward people of all ages. Shop and support local shelter animals at Gaston by HANNAH LEE EVENT (Promotional image courtesy of Gaston Brewing) HANNAH LEE, Assistant Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. •••••••