In March, when the COVID-19 outbreak meant we could no longer gather in person, SideCar PR began hosting weekly virtual happy hours open for any and all to join.

From the beginning, these happy hours were an opportunity to take a breath, laugh and meaningfully connect with each other and our community. Understanding how many companies had been impacted by the stay-at-home orders, they also became a way to shine a spotlight on some of our community’s incredible small businesses.

Each week, we would choose a business to feature and randomly select an attendee to receive a gift card in support of that business. Over the course of two months, we were able to provide almost $1,000 to some of our favorite locales!

We kicked things off with Bigsby’s Folly, a winery in RiNo. During week two, we featured Rioja, a SideCar favorite on Larimer Square. The next few weeks included Oliva, a new Italian spot in Wash Park, Room for Milly and Blue Sparrow Coffee by Mainspring, and then Raíces Brewing Co. in Sun Valley. The following week, we supported Eat Denver’s initiative, #DoubleDownDenver. Bent Fine Jewelry and Azomalli, both great friends to SideCar, were the next two businesses we featured. At our grand finale happy hour, we splashed into summer by featuring another favorite on the block, Tamayo, as well as Chook Charcoal Chicken. Cheers to margs and fried chicken!

While we know this was just one small way we could contribute, we are thankful to everyone who attended and helped support these small businesses. It was inspiring to learn how each of them have adapted during this time, and we encourage all of our fellow Denverites to go out and support local businesses however you can!