One dollar from each four-pack of Medicine Hat Brewing Company's Finlay Crossing pale ale will go towards the Medicine Hat and District Health Foundation.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Local artist Theresa Eisenbarth and Medicine Hat Brewing Company are partnering to raise funds for Medicine Hat Health Foundation through sale of the limited-edition “Finlay Crossing” beer and the exclusive painting depicted on its label.
A well-known professional painter recognized for her use of vivid colours and impressionistic style, Eisenbarth is also a long-time supporter of the MHHF, and the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital as a whole. She has created several charitable initiatives to support both throughout her career.
For her most recent initiative, Eisenbarth was inspired to not only generate support for the city’s primary health institution, but also for local businesses through a collaboration.
“During COVID, I was in an online mentoring program and one of the homework assignments was to (paint) a wine label,” said Eisenbarth. “But I thought ‘well, that doesn’t make any sense to me, because we have no wineries here.’ And so, I thought ‘Well, what about doing a beer label?’
“I kept it in the back of my mind thinking ‘That’d pretty cool if I could do something like that here (with) the foundation’ … So, that’s kind of how it all started.”
Eisenbarth and MHHF staff began pitching the idea to local breweries last fall, and, by December, had joined in a partnership with Medicine Hat Brewing Company.
“The tie between Eisenbarth’s art focus and our mission as a brewery lined up very nicely for this art and beer project,” Brew Co. manager Kaiden Vancuren said, explaining that the brewery aims to create beers reflective of Medicine Hat’s unique culture and history, just as Eisenbarth aims to honour the community through her art.
The parties each contributed in the beer’s creation, with Eisenbarth creating an exclusive painting of one of Medicine Hat’s most iconic landmarks – Finlay Bridge – for the beer’s packaging, and Brew Co. staff brewing a new beverage which would match the packaging’s aesthetic.
The end result is a 4.9 per cent, 31 IBU American pale ale named Finlay Crossing. It launched May 5 and will be available while supplies last. The beer is available on tap at Brew Co.’s Brier Park Drive location, and is also sold in four-packs of cans, with $1 of every sale going towards the MHHF.
As well as raising funds through sale of the beer, Eisenbarth is hoping to raise additional funds by auctioning off the painting of Finlay Bridge that appears on the beer’s packaging.
The auction, which is virtual, also launch last week on can.givergy.com/MedicineHatHealthFoundation.
The auction remains open until the MHHF’s June 9 Community Cares Gala.
Eisenbarth says she is proud of the partnership and hopes it will generate much needed funds for Medicine Hat’s hospital, specifically for the Margery E. Yuill Cancer Centre.
MHHF donor relations coordinator Sue Edwards says the foundation is grateful to Eisenbarth and Brew Co., as well as Hatters who support the partnership.
“We really appreciate this community collaboration,” said Edwards. “It just shows how much (the community) believes in our cause.”
Edwards confirmed all money raised through the partnership will be used to enhance patient care, programs and support services at MHRH.
Editors note: An earlier version of the story had an incorrect headline.
