Scotty's Brewhouse's efforts to provide service not only to its customers but also to the men and women serving overseas ended Monday with more than 150 items collected. Those items will go to Indianapolis Thursday to begin the process of being shipped to troops.
From April 7 to Monday, the four Scotty's Brewhouse locations in Muncie, Bloomington, Indianapolis and West Lafayette accepted donations as part of the first Shoebox Brigade campaign. Managers from all four locations said they received items such as books, powdered packets of Crystal Light and Gatorade, fruit snacks, clothing, band-aids, candy bars and granola bars to members of the 76th Brigade.
According to the Shoebox Brigade news release, the 76th Brigade is a deployment of 3,400 soldiers, which is the largest deployment from Indiana since World War II.
Scott Craddock, the manager of Muncie's Scotty's Brewhouse, said other staff in all Scotty's locations have had friends, family and former employees who were fighting in the war or fought in the war. Because the war has been going on for six years, it has touched a lot of people, so the Shoebox Brigade was something nice Scotty's thought it could do, Craddock said.
At the Muncie location, Craddock said, three grocery sacks full of items were collected. He was pleased with the amount considering this was the campaign's first year and because of people's differing opinions on the war, he said.
"You don't know [what people will do]," he said. "People have such mixed emotions of being over there. You hope people will support the troops. It's not their choice [to be there], and I hope people support them regardless of your viewpoints on the war."
Amber Martin, Scotty's Brewhouse beverage and promotions director, said the Shoebox Brigade idea originated from the mother of a bartender at the Scotty's Indianapolis location.
According to the news release, the Shoebox Brigade not-for-profit organization is focused on supporting the men and women in the United States military who are stationed overseas. Mary Davis and her daughter, Bridget Wiseman, started the organization in 2005.
The organization got its name because when it first began, the largest package that could be sent was the size of a shoebox, according to the news release.
"My dad's old unit, the 1438, was being deployed to Afghanistan, and we wanted to do something to help keep the guys' spirits up," Wiseman said in the news release.
John Cavanaugh, the manager of West Lafayette's Scotty's Brewhouse, said his location collected a 3-foot-tall by 18-inch-wide box full of items. He said the four Scotty's Brewhouse locations got involved with the Shoebox Brigade this year because the husband of one of the kitchen workers in the Indianapolis location was being deployed to Iraq.
Matt Wattley, the manager of Bloomington's Scotty's Brewhouse, said his location collected about 20 grocery bags worth of items. About 10 were full of paperback books.
"[The books] were one of the things that I thought was most unique," Wattley said. "You never really think of all that downtime they have over there."
He also said he was pleased with the turnout.
"I was amazed especially coming from a town like Bloomington," he said. "Even though people don't seem to agree with the reason why we're over there they're still showing support for our troops and making sure they're as comfortable as possible for the situation they're in. This is giving them the comforts of home that they aren't getting out that way."
Will Payne, the manager of Indianapolis's Scotty's Brewhouse, said his location collected about 150 items, but did not know how many bags that would fill. He said the amount all four locations collected set the bar for future years.
"Anything is good, and it's more than what we were doing before for the troops," he said. "I take pride in knowing we'll be making some of the guys happy."
Martin said the amount of donations for the first year has caused discussions to do it again possibly around Christmas when the Scotty's locations collect items for Riley Children's Hospital and Toys for Tots.
She also would want other restaurants and businesses to get involved in the Shoebox Brigade, she said.
"The more the merrier," Martin said. "It's exploded in our four locations, but if other businesses would be interested, we'd be happy to collaborate and get together. I'm excited about it. We've never done this before, but I think it was well received, and we're hoping to do it again and each time make it more successful."
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