Uncle Nearest Spirit Brand Launches HBCU Old Fashioned Challenge To Raise $1M For Underfunded HBCUs

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, the top-selling Black-owned spirits brand Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey has launched its HBCU Old Fashioned Challenge to help raise money for underfunded HBCUs.

The launch took off on MLK Day and will continue through Black History Month and Woman’s History Month. The goal is to raise $1 million that will go towards the top 58 HBCUs.

The spirit brand also aims at bringing attention to contributions to diversity among the workforce and how it plays in ecumenic mobility.

The company has pointed at the disproportionate data to support the need for their cause, saying that although HBCUs make up less than 3% of colleges and universities, they enroll 10% of Black students and 20% of Black graduates.

Those graduates then go into professional fields, including 40% who become Black judges, 50% doctors, and lawyers, and another 40% who become engineers. However, because HBCUs are underfunded, it hinders graduation rates, and many students experience a lack of resources and student debt.

“Many have opinions about Deion Sanders’ decision to move from Jackson State, an HBCU, to Colorado. I will tell you what I know to be true: Coach Prime put a much-needed spotlight on how HBCU programs can compete if they are properly funded,” Fawn Weaver, founder, and CEO of Uncle Nearest, stated. “He showed us what one person with influence, shining a light on HBCUs, can do to help. Enrollment in HBCUs grew tremendously after Beyonce’s 2019 film, Homecoming. I am certainly no Beyonce, but I have a spotlight on me, and it’s my greatest honor to be able to shift that spotlight where it should be – on our incredible Historically Black Colleges and Universities. When I reached out to share this program, so many of them asked me, ‘What can we do to help?’ I told each of them that I didn’t want them to do anything. It’s our turn to be torchbearers and give back, asking nothing in return.”

From January 16 to March 31, 2023, consumers can take part in the challenge by doing the following:

• For every Uncle Nearest Old Fashioned sold at participating bars and restaurants, one dollar will be donated to the challenge.
• Uncle Nearest will donate one dollar for each bottle of whiskey sold at participating online and brick-and-mortar retail stores.
• ReserveBar will sell Old Fashioned Cocktail Kits featuring a bottle of Uncle Nearest and syrup and bitters from Hella Cocktail Co., the Black-owned bitters and soda company. For every kit sold, Uncle Nearest and ReserveBar will donate one dollar to the challenge.
• During the time period, brand fans can also submit a photo of a homemade Uncle Nearest Old Fashioned at www.oldfashionedcocktail.com. Uncle Nearest will donate one dollar for each image received.