Havens community connections announces May fundraiser

Seattle World Whiskey Day to be held at the Redmond Central Connector.

Havens Community Connections proudly announces their first large-scale event to celebrate World Whiskey Day in the Seattle area.

The fundraiser will benefit Havens’ coaching program that helps women plan exit strategies from abusive relationships.

World Whiskey Day was started five years ago in the United Kingdom to recognize the increasingly-

popular adult beverage of whiskey and establish a worldwide day – each third Saturday in May – on which to celebrate. A website was established to promote events happening around the globe: www.WorldWhiskyDay.com. Havens procured www.SeattleWorldWhiskeyDay.com for the event.

“The Board was looking for a fundraiser that would be fun and I suggested we look at doing a public event around World Whisk(e)y Day in May if we could pull it together in time” said Havens’ board of trustees member David Carson in a press release.

The organization looked at the venue options and found the new linear park (Redmond Central Connector) in downtown Redmond was a great fit for the event.

Havens sought out craft distillers from across the State of Washington who make whiskies, ryes and bourbons and compiled a list of at least 30 distilleries with qualifying products. Over a dozen craft distilleries have responded affirmatively including Whidbey Island Distillery, Swede Hill of Yakima, Blackfish of Auburn, Bad Dog of Arlington, Boundary Bay Distillery of Freeland, Skip Rock of Snohomish, Nightside of Edgewood, Evil Roy’s of Sequim and 2bars, Fremont Mischief, Oola, Sound Spirits and Westland, all of Seattle.

“We’d like a total somewhere around twenty,” said Carson in a press release. “That would give us an excellent representation of the fine whiskies made in Washington State.”

The organization is also looking for volunteers to help run the Bottle Shop, Admissions, licensed Bartenders and Relief Pourers (MAST License required) to spell distillers during the 10-hour even in the Redmond Central Connector park in Downtown Redmond.

The main event will be on May 19 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the ticket price is $35. A “Distiller’s Dinner” is also scheduled for May 18 at the Seattle Marriott Redmond in Redmond Town Center. Admission for the dinner is $250 and will include select samples not available at the general event as well as tickets for the Saturday session. Food pairings will be served with the selected whiskies in the Marriott Speakeasy.

“This event can help us reach our goal of reaching 100 women who are in need of help in escaping an abusive relationship,” said founder and board member Danielle Madrid in a press release.

There are many organizations and agencies formed to help those experiencing domestic violence, but some help is means-tested which means that some are ineligible for those programs.

“All too often domestic abuse in affluent communities goes unrecognized and it can be devastating as Redmond has recently experienced”, said the executive director of Havens in a press release. “It’s key that women in toxic relationships realize the danger and get the help they need to extricate themselves from such situations.”

Tickets are available online at www.SeattleWorldWhiskeyDay.com.