Sober fundraiser for Alpha House's DOAP team

CALGARY -

Try Dry Sober January is an annual fundraiser hosted by the Boring Little Girls Club (BLGC). This year it hopes to raise $12,000 for the Downtown Outreach Addictions Partnership (DOAP) team.

"It's such an excellent opportunity for people to have a reset on their substance use habits at the same time as raise money for such a wonderful cause," said Kira Dunlop, the president and founder of BLGC.

The way it works is people who've signed up to Try Dry either raise funds from friends and family or they take what they would normally spend on alcohol and recreational drugs and donate it to the cause.

This is the second year Rebecca Robertson is taking part in Try Dry and she's asking her friends to buy her a drink, but instead of an actual alcoholic beverage it's the cash she's after.

"Whether it's a $5 donation, a $20 bottle of wine, just donate and contribute as much as they can, my goal this year is $1,000 last year was 800 so I'm hoping to reach that goal," said Robertson.

Robertson says she was successful in 2021 and the month-long challenge is a good way to reset her life balance.

"This year I've noticed it's a bit more challenging than it has been last year," said Robertson. "So that's showing me that maybe I was indulging in alcohol and substance a little more than I would have been previously, you know, with COVID and all of that so it kind of matches the trends."

VULNERABLE CALGARIANS

Dunlop says the DOAP team focuses on vulnerable Calgarians struggling with street level addiction or intoxication and gets them the help they need.

"Saying that you're going dry and raising money is so huge because it really gives you an ability to give back," said Dunlop. "That being of service is so critical when you know you're on this journey to finding that better you or to growth and healing that I personally have experienced through my sobriety."

To make it a little easier to abstain from alcohol this January the Tool Shed Brewing Company has come out with a non alcoholic beer based off of its popular People Skills brew called Zero People Skills.

"The challenge is trying to get a non-alcoholic beer that actually tastes like beer, because that's the hardest part right, there's a lot of non-alcohol there that's good, we're trying to get great," said Rob Duncan Tool Shed's director of sales.

Duncan says the social responsibility piece is finding an option for people who want to socialize but need to work or drive and don't want alcohol.

"It seems like the younger generation coming up, they want to have experiences, they want to have a beverage but maybe they don't want to drink (alcohol) as much so it seems to be the trend where people are looking to do things differently," said Duncan.

He says the brewery will be looking at making more versions of their popular beers into non alcoholic options for customers.

Learn more about Try Dry Sober January here: www.boringlittlegirlsclub.ca