5/22 First Responder Lunch Bomb

Local Restaurants Team Up to Feed Pottstown-area First Responders

Friday, May 22nd, J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co. and The Blue Elephant will be presenting a surprise “lunch bomb” for the first responder organizations of Pottstown and surrounding communities.

The meals will be distributed from 12pm to 3pm by Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities at their location at 57 N. Franklin St., Pottstown.

“These men and women serve our communities every day.  But now – with COVID-19, their jobs are more critical and more stressful than ever.   Heading into Memorial Day Weekend, we thought it would be an appropriate time to say THANK YOU for your service to our communities…  at this time – and all the time.”  ~Keith Costello, co-owner/partner J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co.

Three key things make today’s donation possible:

(1)   A “social distancing” fundraiser was held at J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co. on Friday, May 8th, area musicians – Thomas Jay Martin, Matthew Bailey and Tom Flott – performed live to help raise the funds.  The event was streamed live on Facebook, where viewers were able to watch the live show and make donations.  Donations were accepted directly through Facebook and collected by Tri-County Community Network.   Over $650 was collected during this event!

(2)   J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co. and The Blue Elephant committed to matching the donations in ingredients and materials and also donated the labor required in producing the meals.

(3)   Food distributors, US Foods and Hurter Food Distributors made substantial contributions to the effort by donating food items.

The combination of these efforts resulted in producing enough food to feed 1,500.

Police, fire, ambulance, critical care, EMT and municipal staff will be included in the donation.  The following municipalities have been invited to participate in the donation pick-up:   Douglass Township,  East Coventry Township,  Lower Pottsgrove Township,  Upper Pottsgrove Township,  West Pottsgrove Township ,  New Hanover Township,  North Coventry Township,  and Pottstown Borough.

Any additional meals will be donated to Pottstown Hospital – Tower Health.

 

J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co. offers take-out dailys from 11 – 8pm.  Serves BBQ and new American food with craft beer to-go.  Order online at:  jjratiganbrewing.com

The Blue Elephant offers take-out daily from 11:30 – 8:30pm.  Serves Asian fusion, fine dining and sushi with wine & cocktails to-go.  Order online at:  blueelephantbar.com

4/1 School Lunch Bomb

Thank you Pottstown for supporting our efforts to FEED THE KIDS.

On Wednesday, April 1 - 500 bagged lunches left J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co. and made their way to Pottstown Elementary Schools for distribution! 

In case you're wondering what 500 lunches looks like:

Here's us loading lunches:

One of the distribution points…

THANK YOU POTTSTOWN!

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

Pottstown Brewery Donates 500
Lunches to Pottstown Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – POTTSTOWN, PA

J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co. donated 500 lunches to Pottstown Elementary Schools today.

While bars and restaurants all over Pennsylvania are closed for dine-in service, the brewery and restaurant has been open offering take-out and delivery of their popular menu of beer foods from around the world.

During the COVID-19 closures, the brewery – known for offering live music every Friday and Saturday – moved their performances to Facebook Live.

Thomas Jay Martin performed on Tuesday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day). Raising $635 for Kingdom Life Church and Flavors Deli – who are running a free grab and go lunch program for Pottstown students while they are out of school.

Matt Bailey and The Ramirez Sisters teamed up for a performance on Saturday, March 21. That show raised $585 for Operation 143 – who run a free food program for kids on the weekends.

The brewery committed to matching the donations made during those live stream shows.

Today that pledge was realized when the brewery staff delivered 500 lunches to Pottstown schools.

Supporting today’s donation effort was US Foods, one of the largest food distributors in the US and a vendor for J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co.

“US Foods really came through, donating yogurts and apple slices, their contribution meant that we are able to provide twice as many lunches as we would have been able to do on our own.” ~Conrad Flynn, General Manager – J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co.

The following schools received the lunches and distributed them to students:

  • Lincoln Elementary School - 461 N York St, Pottstown

  • Franklin Elementary School - 970 N Franklin St, Pottstown

  • Barth Elementary School - 467 W Walnut St, Pottstown

  • Rupert Elementary School - 1230 South St, Pottstown

The estimated value of the lunches was over $2,000.

J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co., is located at 227 E. High St., Pottstown and is currently open for take-out daily from 11am until 8pm.

PRESS CONTACT: Conrad Flynn, J.J. Ratigan Brewing Co., (484) 524-8391

URL for press footage / resources: https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApWiYkVom9kXgsAxM99zD4n0SJV5IQ?e=N7cKRo