Beer run for a cause: Local breweries team up to support Pink Warrior House

Join Canteen Brewhouse, High & Dry Brewing and Steel Bender Brewyard for the annual Dash & Drink for Pink.

The 5K run/walk event takes place at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4. All the proceeds benefit Pink Warrior House, a local foundation that’s helping women in New Mexico who are battling and beating breast cancer. Throughout the month of October, all three breweries will donate $1 per pint of their designated charity beer to Pink Warrior House.

The mission of the Pink Warrior House is to create a community that supports individuals battling breast cancer and their caregivers with emotional and social services to foster hope and a positive outcome, according to the event’s Facebook page.

“The Pink Warrior House is this amazing organization,” said Jamie Schwebach, general manager at Canteen Brewhouse. “They are one of the only local nonprofits here in Albuquerque that are for breast cancer support. Many of the other organizations, most of them are not local. Most of them are national organizations. They (offer) emotional support and physical support. It’s everything from yoga to wig fitting to makeup.”

Participants who register for the 5K run/walk will receive a pink shirt and a pint of pink beer of choice after completing the run/walk. Root beer will be available for non-beer drinkers and participants younger than age 21.

The race will begin and end at Canteen Brewhouse, 2381 Aztec Road NE.

The course will run along the nearby North Diversion Channel Trail. There will be an aid station located at the halfway point.

A raffle will be held following the race and will be open to all participants in lieu of top finisher awards. Runners’ and walkers’ bib numbers will be their raffle number. Additional raffle tickets can also be purchased throughout the day of run, with proceeds benefitting the Pink Warrior House.

Additional craft beer and food will be available for purchase at the brewhouse.

Packet pick up will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, at Canteen Brewhouse. The brewery will be making custom buttons during packet pick up for participants who are running or walking for someone affected by breast cancer. Runners and walkers can color a custom button or bring a photo of the person they are honoring to be placed on the button to be worn during the race.

This is a family-friendly event and pets are welcome to be part of the walk/run. To register, visit pinkwarriorhouse.org.

Pink Warrior House was started by Allison Hendricks-Smith after her experience with breast cancer, Schwebach said. Hendricks-Smith saw a need that was lacking and filled the void by creating the nonprofit.

“Pink Warrior House has done such an amazing job in terms of offering that social support to individuals and their families, which is such a big deal too,” Schwebach said. “Some of the stuff that I think is often forgotten for cancer survivors and people who are battling cancer, is emotional support. It is so important as well.”

Pink Warrior House assigns “Warrior Buddies” to people battling breast cancer as another form of support.

“When somebody’s diagnosed, they can have somebody who reaches out, who’s also gone through it, so they have that connection in terms of understanding of what they’re going through,” Schwebach said. “And then they also have a caregiver support group that we host here, every second Monday (of the month).”

For more information about Pink Warrior House, visit pinkwarriorhouse.org.