NEWS | Patrick Conway and Daniel Conway To Receive 2023 Changemaker Award at 10th Annual Giving Splash Party
CLEVELAND, August 17, 2023 — Drink Local Drink Tap, the Cleveland-based nonprofit, is proud to recognize Patrick Conway and Daniel Conway with the 2023 Changemaker Award at the 10th Annual Giving Splash Party on Saturday, September 21, 2023. Each year, Drink Local Drink Tap selects an organization, company, or people who have gone above and beyond as supporters and stewards of clean water. Recipients of the Changemaker Award have shown an unwavering commitment to Drink Local Drink Taps’ mission and programs and continue to inspire passion for our future goals.
Patrick Conway’s long love affair with beer began during his tenure as a graduate student at the University of Chicago when he got a job as a bartender to pay his bills. He was inspired by the craft beer movement in America and returned to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to pursue his dream of opening Ohio’s first craft brewery. Daniel Conway, a John Carroll University graduate with a background in banking, joined Patrick in developing their business. The two brothers chose to set up shop in Ohio City, opening Great Lakes Brewing Company, where their fledgling operation would grow into a top 20 U.S. craft brewery. Since 1988, Great Lakes Brewing Company has been a pioneer in sustainability. Conserving resources, powering their production with renewable energy, investing in urban farming and local food, repurposing byproducts, and water stewardship. Great Lakes Brewing Company targeted 1% of sales to donate to environmental and philanthropic organizations.
In 2000, Patrick Conway and a group of passionate Greater Cleveland locals founded The Burning River Foundation. Since then, The Burning River Foundation has raised almost a million dollars through their event Burning River Fest which contributed to the revitalization of the historic Coast Guard Station and local philanthropic organizations focused on the environment and clean water. The Burning River Fest began as an environmental festival but it evolved because the Conway Brothers felt it was vital to bring people to the waterfront. “You can’t protect what you don’t love, so first we must make people fall in love with our waterfront”. The Burning River Foundation has been a dedicated donor and partner of Drink Local Drink Tap. The foundation first supported Drink Local Drink Tap in 2011, just one year after the organization’s founding. Patrick Conway and Daniel Conway have invested in our mission, projects, and programs in enormous ways throughout the last 13 years. It brings us great pleasure to honor them with the 2023 Drink Local Drink Tap Changemaker Award. To purchase tickets (by Sept 12th) or donate to Annual Giving Splash Party, visit bit.ly/AGSPDLDT
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Since 2010, Drink Local Drink Tap has worked both domestically in Northeast Ohio and internationally in Uganda to improve water equity and quality. Over 49,119 people now have access to clean water and over 16,082 people have sanitation as a result of Drink Local Drink Tap’s projects in Uganda. With the help of Cleveland-based volunteers, Drink Local Drink Tap has also removed over 15,154 pounds of trash through beach clean-ups and engaged over 21,500 young people in doing so. Our mission is to improve water equity through projects, programming, and partnerships because we believe clean water is a human right. Website: drinklocaldrinktap.org
Contact Erin Huber – erin@drinklocaldrinktap.org, Drink Local Drink Tap, Executive Director