Cheers: Catholic Charities opens bar to raise money

From FOX in Phoenix:

Catholic Charities has opened up a new bar in Phoenix — a coffee and wine bar. The nonprofit is venturing into the business side.

Yeah, it’s not something you would normally put together — a Catholic charity and the bar scene.

But the nonprofit is blending the two, catering to the coffee, wine, and beer crowd.

A sacred sacrament during mass. This is what you’d normally expect when you talk about Catholics and wine. But this is what you get when you mix Catholic Charities and wine in central Phoenix.

By day, this cafe serves up frozen mochas, but by evening, the bar is serving up wine and beer. The money made on libations here is going to a social cause.

“Any profit that we make goes right to help the people that we serve at Catholic Charities,” says Steve Capobres.

Catholic Charities took a leap of faith, investing $700,000 in The Refuge Café, which opened for business on Wednesday.

“Government funding continues to go down, it’s getting more competitive to find donors. All of us are looking at different ways to start raising resources for ourselves.”

Check out more, and watch a video, at the link.