Community Roots
One of our most coveted ethos at Little Thistle is our dedication to giving back to our community. Rochester and by extension Southeast Minnesota is our home. It’s our neighborhoods, our friends, and our families. It’s the streets we drive, the paths we walk, and the places we eat and drink. We are anchored to this community and are unwavering in our mission to give back.
Support Focus 2022
Thank you for thinking of Little Thistle Brewing Company. While we would love to give donations to everyone that asks, there are more worthy needs and causes that we can support. Please see our current donation focus areas for more information about non-profits and initiatives we are currently partnering with.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Arts and Culture
Community Development and Engagement
Environment and Sustainability
Little Thistle Charitable Giving Relationships
- Ability Building Center (ABC) – Our neighbors at ABC provide services for individuals with disabilities through community inclusion. We support this valuable community organization with an annual ABC Festival in September, Celebrating Abilities.
- Rein in Sarcoma Foundation – This organization is dedicated to educating the public and medical community about sarcomas, supporting sarcoma patients and their loved ones, and funding research directed toward developing new treatments and finding a cure for sarcoma cancers. Ten percent of our coffee lager, Legend, are donated to the foundation to advance this research.
- Rochester For Justice – This advocacy group is focused on bringing about racial justice and awareness through education, advocacy, and community organizing. Through our 2020 Black is Beautiful collaboration, we were able to donate $10,000 to this amazing group.
Community Meeting Space
One of the best ways we can support local non-profits is through offering our private space for no cost. This semi-private room is great for off-campus meetings for organizations and groups working on community improvement initiatives.
Please contact us for how to reserve this space for your group.
Donation Requests
As a small, craft brewery, our most important customers are those who live and work around us. Little Thistle Brewing is committed to supporting the local community that supports us. We will continually work to connect to the people working and living in Rochester and the local area.
We offer a limited number of silent auction donation swag bags each year.
Donation Guidelines:
- Must be a local, nonprofit, 501c3 organization.
- Donation requests must be received 30 days prior to your event.
- One donation per calendar year per organization.
- Our contribution must impact local people, places, or animals – we keep our donations local, just like our beer.
We do not donate to the following:
- Individual or private fundraisers
- Recreational teams
- Your family reunion, bachelor party, camping trip, or golf outing
- Religious affiliated events or churches
- Political organizations or campaigns
We do reserve the right to support our employees and their families. If you do see us present at any of the above events, chances are 100% we’re making a contribution to a cause or event involving one of our employees or they are choosing to support the cause themselves.
Please email us at contact1@littlethistlebeer.com to submit your donation request.
Jeremiah Program
The Jeremiah Program is on a mission to end the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children two-generations at a time. Little Thistle is proud to offer a platform for donations to the Rochester area Jeremiah Program. All donations go directly to the Jeremiah Program here in Rochester.