“For today’s “Daily Double”, the following pictures represent and showcase elements of _______…”

*Jeopardy theme plays*

“Let’s see…we’ve got a mixologist, holding a cup of Punch, at a picnic in a park. We’ve also got four people at a banquet-style event…it looks like they’ve been serving cocktails that evening. We’ve also got a woman with a very stylish apron on, probably from some big cocktail expo-extravaganza…And finally, a guy preparing some welcome cocktail tastes to be distributed by others. Alex, I’d have to say that these photos exhibit different aspects of VOLUNTEERING!”

*confetti falls, dancing bears and circus elephants parade around, balloons cascade*

There are many events and initiatives that professions use to contribute to the greater good, and the photo stream above show a few. The Pig & Punch picnic, facilitated by  is held at various locations around the country and proceeds from the events are given to charitable causes such as the art program for a charter high school in New Orleans. A spit-roasted pig, countless gallons of Punch, and proceeds for future artsy-types? A wonderful combination!

Other organizations cater to the hungry and underserved populations. Share Our Strength strives to combat youth hunger, and towards that cause leverages the Taste of the Nation event through their No Kid Hungry campaign. Using noted chefs and bartenders in several cities helps build awareness and financial assistance for healthy eating and cooking programs, in addition to connecting kids to school breakfast and summer meals programs. Focusing on the opposite end of the spectrum, the Meals on Wheels program uses its Celebrity Chefs Ball to combat hunger and lack of accessible meals amongst seniors. Both of these events utilize the creative power of mixology, as participating bartenders construct cocktail recipes that are made for the event attendees. Using your tools of the trade for good? Kudos!

Finally, Tales of the Cocktail has become “too big to fail”. Recently celebrating their 10th annual bombast of cocktailing and mixological pursuits, it has come to represent all that is wonderful and engaging about bartending. The spread of its hospitality is felt upon the Hotel Monteleone, the French Quarter, drinking places and restaurants, and so many elements of New Orleans as a whole. That results in changing the culture and welfare of a city on a larger scale than just one banquet or fete. Further, it takes the efforts of so many people from across the world that volunteer their time, efforts, and experience — distributing cocktails, assisting with registration efforts, crowd control, event setup/management/breakdown and countless other responsibilities over the nearly weeklong event.

It definitely takes a village. And at times, the villagers have to be able to build a great cocktail to help out!