I just moved into the Dekum/Woodlawn area and it’s the shit, don’t move there, people like me are already ruining it.
A few nights ago I wandered into the soft opening of the Oregon Public House, a new bar (and eventual brewery) underneath the Village Ballroom.
Billing itself as “the nation’s first non-profit pub”, proceeds from the Oregon Public House go to support local charitable organizations. It’s an attempt to do some good with the fact that—as founder Ryan Saari notes in the below video—during times of economic strife, charitable giving goes down, but alcohol sales go up. The pub will support a range of local and international social and environmental charities; the full list is here.
What this means is I get to feel 100% self-righteous about drinking awesome beer at a pleasant neighborhood pub. DON’T RUIN THIS FOR ME, INTERNET COMMENTERS.
The grand opening is on Friday, but it’s currently in soft-open mode with a full food and drink menu. 700 NE Dekum, Tues-Sun 3-11 pm.
I’m suspicious. Follow the money.
It’s church-affiliated, which means Portlanders will end up hating and boycotting it.
Forcing people to be philanthropic via the feeding of their addictions/vices (which they would be doing elsewhere anyway, and for a much less-worthy cause): Genius.
I hope they do well and that their idea will soon be taken up by many another bar, at least in some capacity.
I guess it was only a matter of time — state lotteries figured this out years ago in order to compel gamblers to be more ‘altruistic’ with their money.
Now how do we apply this same kind of setup for all of the potheads and cigarette smokers? Coke-heads? Methies? Drivers of gas-guzzlers?
Reading the comments ahead of this I would say, absolutely follow the money. Don’t give blindly, vote with your dollars. Some of the charities selected are faith based. For example, habitat for humanity, however they seem to do good in the world. You could boycott anything you want, for any reason, but their might be an element of “cutting your nose off to spite your face.” But once again vote with your dollars, research the restaurants and establishments you patron, find out where their money goes.
Having said that I am excited to see if it can generate money for charities who are trying to help people, if it can great.