After partnering with the Johnson County-based Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) on the Equalitea Sour Ale project, Big Grove Brewery presented a $6,000 check to DVIP on March 28.
This is the fourth year DVIP and Big Grove have partnered on the Equalitea Sour Ale project benefitting DVIP. The check presentation follows the recent DVIP announcement to build a new emergency shelter for victims of intimate partner violence in Johnson County.
“To have to search for safety and security is often the worst moment of a person’s life. DVIP provides a place for people to go, for children, women, and men,” said Doug Goettsch, co-founder of Big Grove Brewery, said in a release. “We’re just trying to make our corner of the world better and have that ripple out around us, for DVIP, Iowa City and the greater community.”
Big Grove also was a 2022 recipient of the Pat Meyer Vision Award for outstanding commitment to ending domestic violence.
The Equalitea Sour Ale project was initiated by Katie Kiesewetter, bartender at Big Grove and MFA candidate at the University of Iowa School of Art & Art History.
“The monetary support provided by Equalitea Sour Ale has a direct impact in supporting victims/survivors, to be sure, but the more you talk about this beer and the more you share the program’s mission, the more people in your community know how to access confidential services to seek safety for themself or someone they know,” said Ms. Kiesewetter.
DVIP Director of Community Engagement Alta Medea-Peters said in a release that “partnering with Big Grove is a huge impact, giving us a mainstream conversation.”
“To partner with an established brewery, we know that victim-survivors find out about word of mouth,” she said. “The more places we’ve seen, the more impact we have. The more we’re able to create awareness, the more we’re able to take the isolation away.”
Next year marks the fifth year for the Big Grove Equalitea Sour Ale and DVIP partnership. Greater distribution of Big Grove Equalitea Sour Ale is planned to bolster DVIP and generate more awareness for its services in eastern Iowa.
