Cocktails for a Cause: These Bars All Give Back to Charity
In this fraught post-election America, it’s more important than ever for individuals to support the causes they hold dear, and bars across the country are making this as easy as ordering a drink.
“Everybody wants to do something, but not everybody has the time or money to donate,” says Ravi DeRossi, one of the founders of Coup, a new New York City bar that donates 100 percent of its profits to organizations in danger of being defunded by, or that are fighting against, the Trump administration. “This bar sort of became that place for a lot of people that are gonna go out and drink anyway and have a great cocktail, so now they can spend their money knowing that it’s going to a good cause.”
DeRossi cites OKRA, which opened in Houston in 2012, as the inspiration for Coup. When a small group of business owners got together and decided to open a charity saloon in downtown Houston, they had no idea if it would actually make enough money to sustain itself. They were just hoping to draw people to this forlorn part of the city and raise money for local organizations. Every month, a different set of charities competes for the most votes and whoever wins gets the money. The bar became extremely successful, and this December, OKRA celebrates its fifth anniversary and is on track to hit the million-dollar mark in October.
