Drink beer to fight cancer at Craft Out Cancer fundraiser

MOSES LAKE — On an ever-lengthening list of things you can do to help those fighting cancer, this one’s easy:

Drink beer.

“This is Moses Lake’s first beer festival,” said Angel Ledesma, executive director of the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation.

The festival, Craft Out Cancer, is also a fundraiser to help the cancer foundation help patients get to and through their treatments.

“We help with financial needs, gas vouchers and grocery store vouchers, to ease some of the financial stress,” Ledesma said. “Everybody in this rural area has to go out of town for treatment, so we help with meals, getting to treatment.”

“We have an array of services,” she added.

Co-sponsored by Ten Pin Brewing in Moses Lake, Craft Out Cancer will feature beer from over eight local and regional breweries, food from Tacos el Rey, and live music from Jamie Nasario and Luke Basile, Jimmy Lester with Thief of Hearts, and Dimestore Prophets.

The fundraiser begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, in Ten Pin’s outdoor venue at 1149 N. Stratford Rd., and lasts until 7 p.m. Presale tickets are $25, $30 at the door, and include six drink tickets.

Ledesma said that at any one time, about 100 people are signed up for the foundation’s services.

“We keep in touch with people and provide moral and emotional support,” she said. “Some people don’t have anybody when they go through cancer.”

Ledesma said the foundation used to have a beer and wine tasting fundraiser called “Savor the Basin,” but a proper beer festival is something rolling around in the back of her mind when Ten Pin Brewing approached her about the festival.

“They came to us,” she said. “It’s a lot easier when you have a partner. Ten Pin is always looking for ways to give back to the community.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.