Written by Zaki Numani
Surly Brewing Company has been a staple of the Twin Cities community since it opened in 2006. Starting in Brooklyn Center, the brand attracted the attention of many locals with a strong brand identity and has seen steady growth and love from the Minnesota community and others as they’ve expanded. One big way that locals can get involved with Surly is through Surly Gives a Damn. Officially started in 2010, Surly Gives a Damn (SGAD) is the non-profit arm of Surly Brewing Company. Mary Selke, a friend of the founder of Surly, was chosen to spearhead the project and was able to walk Upstream through the brewery and talk about the work that SGAD is doing for the community. The choice to have a familiar face lead the organization truly embodies the spirit of SGAD.
The work that is now nested under SGAD began before the organization was officially created. Volunteers from the Twin Cities community began assisting Surly with local projects and providing aid to disadvantaged communities around 2008. When Surly saw the motivation that local community members had for assisting in aid projects, the idea of Surly Gives A Damn was born. SGAD is focused on community engagement work. They center this work under the 3 pillars of food, people, and environment. Volunteering, partnerships, and financial donations all go towards supporting these causes. Surly hosts several events throughout the year to put a spotlight on these causes.
The Minneapolis Earth Day Clean Up is an annual event hosted by SGAD in partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Association. Volunteers can sign up to help clean up trash on the Mississippi River before coming back to the brewery for a free beer with other volunteers. The Surly Employees also have their own Earth Day Clean Up program at all of their locations (Beer Hall/Brewery, Corporate Office, Wearhouse, Brewery in Brooklyn Center) to clean up their sites. SGAD also has community events outside of the Twin Cities area like the Lanesboro Earth Day River Clean Up. Surly has an event in town called “Get Squirrely with Surly Pub Crawl” where a cleanup at the nearby Root River leads into a bar crawl.
These are all once-a-year events, but SGAD also maintains some longer-committed projects. In early May, Surly employees will be planting baby trees in its gravel bed nursery, located behind the Minneapolis brewery, with Mississippi Park Connection. These baby trees spend the summer growing there before they are moved out of the gravel bed into a more permanent location. Surly is also currently working to rebuild a donation garden near their Minneapolis brewery. Over the past years, they have grown over 8 tons of produce donated to Everymeal, an organization that donates food to families facing food insecurity.
The mission of Surly Brewing Company is to mobilize local citizens to be active members in taking care of their environments and the people around them. Surly has the power to spark Minnesota into action to help make their home a cleaner, healthier, and happier place for all citizens, and to create a space where people can come together to share community.