In the wake of a mass shooting on MSU’s campus, HopCat in East Lansing held a fundraiser for the ‘Spartan Strong’ fund. The fundraiser would match beer and alcoholic cider sales from Friday, Feb. 24 to Thursday, March 2 and donate them to the fund.
“We just really wanted to do something,” Barfly Brand Manager Michele Ary said. “After the tragedy, we racked our brains around what we could do that had pure intentions–wanted to just do some good in our community and raise some awareness.”
Barfly is the parent-company of HopCat.
MSU, however, advised HopCat to end their fundraiser as they are not an official sponsor of the university, alongside the additional ties of the proceeds to alcohol sales.
“We greatly appreciated their thoughtfulness and wanting to help,” MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said. “The university did have concerns, though, about associating the sale of alcohol with raising money for the ‘Spartan Strong.’ We didn’t want it to be encouraging people to drink as a way to raise money.”
The location intended to raise proceeds through 100% of their beer sales, additionally matching the amount obtained through the fundraiser.
“We weren’t trying to benefit from anything,” Ary said. “We were going to be donating 100% of beer sales and matching that, so it’s unfortunate but I totally understand where they’re coming from.”
HopCat donated $7,500 to the ‘Spartan Strong’ fund and removed their promotion for the fundraiser.
“While we were a bit disappointed, we totally respect their decision and, regardless, we donated because that’s just the right thing to do,” Ary said. “We also just didn’t really want to take away from all the good that, collectively, we can do together.”
Individual organizations and businesses alike can access MSU’s licensing website for contact information regarding fundraising associations with university.
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