How We’ve Mastered DIY Events for ZERO

We organized Hops & Handlebars as a prostate cancer awareness fundraiser that is focused on engaging, uniting, and educating our beloved Sacramento, CA community. After losing Ryan’s father, Dr. Benjamin Pessah, to aggressive prostate cancer in April 2016, we knew we had to do something to engage our community in prostate cancer prevention, treatment, and support. At Hops & Handlebars, we partner with local businesses and organizations to host events, raise money, spread awareness, and foster education about prostate cancer. 

After spending the last year unable to engage with our community the way we were used to, we knew we wanted to try something different this year. So what did we do? We decided to pivot (*cue Ross Geller yelling “pivot”)! 

Our strategy this year is to have more events instead of our one big annual blowout. With a hope to engage a more diverse audience from different communities in the Sacramento area, we’ve partnered with numerous local businesses to host and participate in pop-up events to spread the word about prostate cancer awareness as well as our mission in supporting all things local.

With pop-up events being fairly common in Sacramento over the past three years, we knew it was a seamless way to tap into the incredible network and community that already exists in our wonderful city! It’s been an amazing experience to kick off our summer. 

Small businesses love to support one another, and pop-ups are a great way to partner and share the love. We’re looking forward to reaching a broader and more diverse audience this year. By limiting ourselves to one main event, we really hindered our outreach and creativity. This year, we’re thrilled at the aspect of unleashing the capabilities of our team and community to make a difference in the fight to end prostate cancer.

If you’re interested in hosting your own pop-up event, or series of them, we say go for it! Tap into your local community and you will see a bounty of love and support from your local small businesses. Make sure you have a strong network of volunteers ready to back the mission. Hosting events on an ongoing basis is time-consuming and you need a rock-solid team in order to make it happen! 

For those of you reading who are local to the Sacramento area, we’d love to see you at one of our pop-ups this year! To join us at our next event, visit our website to see our schedule.

Written by Ryan and Anna. 

Ryan — Chief Mustache Officer, Hops and Handlebars

Ryan is passionate about helping others, especially those fighting prostate cancer. After losing his father in 2016, Ryan continues to raise money for prostate cancer charities, educate individuals about the risks of prostate cancer, and advocate to remove barriers to prostate cancer screenings.

Anna — Executive Director, Hops and Handlebars

Anna is a purpose-driven person who enjoys bringing communities together towards a common goal. After losing her father-in-law to prostate cancer, Anna has applied her passion to educating, organizing, and fundraising for prostate cancer awareness.