Sterling Terrain V02 - Flipbook - Page 24
22 | Sterling College
Photo: Compliments of TROOP
There was a lot of talk during the widespread shutdowns about restaurants being the cornerstone of communities. Without them, people were left flapping in the wind a bit, realizing the ways in which restaurants provide
a home base for neighborhoods. Their presence was certainly missed but, I believe – throughout the turmoil of
the last few years – business owners have been forced to think even bigger. We were asked to think beyond the
transactional relationship with our customer of “I give you this, you pay me that, and everyone is happy” and ask
questions like, what more can we be to our community? What can we do to support the neighborhood we exist in?
The response to the questions came organically for us by way of utilizing the resources that were available. With
a donation from our friends at Granny Squibb’s, makers of the finest Rhode Island iced tea, we put a cranberry
tequila cocktail on the menu in the summer of 2020. $4 from every one of those drinks we sell has gone to a local
organization doing work to support racial equity and arts in our community, many youth focused. It is our highest selling cocktail and we have donated thus far almost $40,000 across 25 organizations, some of them based
right in our neighborhood. We have hosted youth arts block parties, collaborated with neighboring nonprofits on
outdoor programming with funds doled out by the city. There is no line item on our profit and loss statement for
reciprocal relationships within our community, but that give and take has become a major player in our success
as a business. This is one of the many things we do as a business to strengthen our little corner of the world and
solidify our core value of sustainability.