Bartenders and other service staff volunteer their time and tips for charity. Every tip they receive from customers is donated to local neighborhood charities.
While it is usually professional bartenders who meet the Cocktail Charities challenge and volunteer their services behind the bar, often celebrity guest bartenders share this role. City Councilmembers Jim Graham and David Catania, neighborhood personalities Miss Pixie, Johnny Kaseva (AKA the "Rock-it" Scientist), and others have shaken and stirred for a good cause.
Cocktail Charities has supported local neighborhood charities with the cooperation of the D.C. service industry. Volunteerism is the focus of Cocktail Charities, individual donations and promoting local neighborhood causes. Bartenders volunteer their time and funds are raised from customer tips. Although donations from participating establishments are gladly accepted by Cocktail Charities, they are neither required nor solicited.
To entirely base fundraising on a percentage of sales from the establishment would require either huge sales or a huge sacrifice from the establishment. Cocktail Charities, however, bases its revenue on the generosity of service satff and patrons. Many times, a patron will order just one cocktail but leave a 5, 10 or 20 dollar bill as a tip to support that evening’s charity.
Another benefit of Cocktail Charities is acquainting the nonprofit and business sectors of the neighborhood. Most importantly, neighborhood awareness of these causes is increased.
A bar named Polly's, a friend named Matthew and a dog named Cornbread provided the inspiration for Cocktail Charities. In May of 1999 Cocktail Charities founder Andy Miscuk asked his good friend, Polly's Café owner Cici Mukhtar if he could guest bartend one Monday night. Being a former bartender he missed being behind the bar. By the time the evening came around, sad news had developed. Matt's beloved dog Cornbread; a very large Husky mutt, was very ill and would require extensive and costly medical attention. Andy decided that all his tips that evening would go towards Cornbread's medical treatment. Cici supported his good intentions by offering to contribute $1 for every Sierra Nevada Draft sold.
On a rainy Monday night, $200 was raised for a sick dog. Thus was Cocktail Charities born.
From this success, Andy figured that if he could raise $200 for a friend’s sick dog, a lot of good could be done promoting locally based charities on a regular basis. Five events were organized for five consecutive Sundays in different Adams Morgan bars or restaurants. He would bartend each of those Sunday nights and all the tips earned would be earmarked for five different neighborhood charities. Those first five events raised $1832.
Due to the success of the first five events, Cocktail Charities was continued as a regular event in Adams Morgan. Cocktail Charities has received multiple write-ups by The Washington Post's Nightwatch Section, written by Eric Brace and by the CityPaper's Laura Lang. Cocktail Charities also hosts its own Web site at www.CocktailCharities.org