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Supporting the community that supports us.
We’re a mission driven-business: Do Good. Eat Good. Part of that includes supporting the community that supports us - be it our neighborhood, our city, American cheesemakers, or the global artisanal food industry. Our philanthropy starts with the way we operate our business - both in terms of the products we source from folks making goods in a way that aligns with our values as well as the fair and respectable treatment of all peoples who interact with our business, that is makers, distributors, our team members, and our customers. In the first 8 years of our business, we supported nearly 400 nonprofit events and fundraisers. Then we launched our annual Philanthroplan, described below, which allows us to continue pursuing our own sustainability, financially support nonprofits, and lend our voice and platform to their missions.
ONGOING - Discounts for All Nonprofit Fundraisers
MONTHLY - Charitable Cheese Cause Nonprofit Spotlight (APPLY HERE FOR NEXT YEAR)
At the beginning of each year, we select 12 beneficiary nonprofit partners. Their missions revolve around food (access, equality, sustainability, etc) and/or the environment (green initiatives, decreasing waste, efficiency, etc). We also reserve a few spots for nonprofits whose work directly affects our team members personally. Benefits of our monthly nonprofit spotlight include:
2021 Nonprofit Partners: Austin Justice Coalition, Austin Shift Meal, The Nourish Fo undation , Multicultural Refugee Coalition, Latinitas, Austin Center for Grief and Loss , Central Texas Young Farmers Coalition , Austin Speech Labs, Survive 2 Thrive , Allgo , Friends of the Children , Slow Food Austin .
2020 Nonprofit Partners: World Wildlife Fund: Australia , Good Politics, Waterloo Gr eenway , Lifeworks , Red Arena , Equality Texas , The Trail Foundation , Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center , Generation Serve , Green Corn Project , CASA of Travis County , Slow Food Austin .
2019 Nonprofit Partners: Girl Scouts of Central Texas , Amplify Austin , Mobile Loaves & Fishes , Austin Parks Foundation , Austin Give 5 for Mother Earth , Urban Roots , Texas Book Festival , FarmShare Austin , American Foundation for Suicide Prevention , Fresh Chefs Society , Breast Cancer Resource Center , Slow Food Austin .
2018 Nonprofit Partners: Allies Against Slavery , Sustainable Food Center , The Thinkery , Austin Child Guidance Center , Slow Food Austin , Colorado River Alliance , Junior League - Food In Tummies , Texas Land Conservancy , Girls on the Run , Big Love Cancer , TreeFolks , National Ovarian Cancer Coalition , Keep Austin Fed .
YEARLY
Pop-Up Picnics: We aim to host 1-2 Pop-Up Picnics per year. We announce via our newsletter on week in advance that we’re holding a Pop-Up Picnic the following Saturday and to follow us on social. At 9am that Saturday, we announce the location, to start at 10am. The event is BYOB - blanket and beverage, and we provide some games and live music. At 10am, we start handing out free cheese tasting boxes, with a donation jar. 100% of revenue (minus cost of the food) goes to the designated nonprofit.
Amplify Austin : On this special day of giving each year, hosted by I Live Here, I Give Here, we encourage our team members to support local nonprofits that are special to them and give their own dollars as they are able; in an effort to show our team that we care about what they care about, we provide a portion of matching dollars to their designated nonprofits.
Austin Gives: We are gla d to be members of the Austin Gives program, supported by the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Austin Gives is a community program to recognize and encourage business philanthropy in metropolitan Austin, asking businesses to donate at least 1% of their profits to philanthropy. In Spring 2019, we won a Generous Business Award for the Charitable Champions category! In Spring 2018, Antonelli’s Cheese Shop was recognized as an Austin Gives Generous Business Awards finalist in the Charitable Champions category.
Give 5 To Mother Earth Day: This one-day, city-wide fundraiser is held each year in honor of Earth Day. On the Friday before Earth Day, 217 Austin-area business locations will be donating 5% of their sales to a fund which will be equally distributed to nine environmental nonprofits working to preserve our local environment. While we have intermittently supported this in the past, we will forward to resuming a regular partnership in 2019.
Yearly Support: We support the following organizations through various efforts each year when we are able - American Cheese Society, ACE Foundation , Daphne Zepos Teaching Award , Austin Child Guidance Center , Austin Food & Wine Alliance , The Good Food Foundation , Slow Food Austin , American Gateways , Philanthropitch , Women@Austin , Austin Independent Business Alliance , Austin Food Bloggers Association ,The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas , Les Dames d’Escoffier Austin , Impact Austin, The Thinkery , and more. Kendall currently serves on the boards of the ACE Foundation, Les Dames Austin (President), and the Austin Child Guidance Center (Secretary). John currently serves on the boards of the American Cheese Society (Past President) and The Thinkery (Treasurer).
Emergency Needs: If and when an emergency arises and our team deems it a priority and appropriate to do so, we will make every effort to support the need. While we do not reserve our budget or dollars for this, we recognize that we can bring our community together in organizing efforts, for example, as serving as a location to collect supplies. Past examples include a donation drive, toiletry kit assembly, an online auction, and partnership with local restaurants for hurricane relief after the Fall 2017 hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria devastated Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. We raised an estimated $9700 for those efforts.
Memberships: Good Food Foundation, American Cheese Society, Oldways Cheese Coalition, Guilde Internationale des Fromagers, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Austin Chamber of Commerce.
