Holiday cheers: These festive Kansas City bar crawls will benefit local charities

Joseph Hernandez
Rich Sugg/rsugg@kcstar.com

The holiday season is a time when people give back to their communities, and Kansas City has two bar crawls benefiting local charities in the area on Saturday. It’s not too late to sign up and join in and spread some holiday cheer.

12 BARS OF CHARITY

The Power and Light District unites to bring Kansas City residents “12 Bars of Charity,” from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday. Each bar in the entertainment district, and a few in the Crossroads, will be involved, including:

  • Border Brewing Co.

  • Casual Animal Brewing Co.

  • Guy Fieri’s Dive and Taco Joint

  • Johnny’s Tavern

  • The Living Room

  • McFadden’s

  • Mosaic

  • Nimble Brewing

  • No Other Pub

  • Pizza Bar

  • Shark Bar

You’ll buy a holiday-themed sweater that benefits the charity of your choice. Each charity has its own colored sweater, and $15 of each purchase will be donated to that charity.

The charities participating in this year’s event are:

  • Ronald McDonald House Charities, whose mission is to reduce the burden of childhood illness on children and their families.

  • Wayside Waifs, an animal shelter that provides care to pets before they’re adopted.

  • Mid-America ALS, whose mission is to discover treatments and a cure for ALS and to advocate and empower people affected by ALS.

  • Make-A-Wish Foundation, which creates life-changing wish experiences for children with critical illnesses.

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters, whose mission is to match children with an adult mentor to help them navigate life.

  • United Way of Greater Kansas City, who work with local nonprofit organizations to provide health, financial and educational resources in communities.

  • Harvesters, whose mission is to end food insecurity in Kansas City.

  • Rose Brooks Center, whose goal is to break the cycle of domestic violence so families and individuals can live free of abuse in their homes.

Each ticket costs $45 and comes with the sweater based on the charity you selected. You can also buy “The Ultimate Giver” for $105, which gives you a green hoodie and the option to donate $80 to as many charities as you want.

The sweater and green hoodie also give you exclusive drink specials and free cover to enter all the bars involved.

SANTACON

Santa Claus invades Kansas City on Saturday once again, as SantaCon takes place from 4 p.m. to midnight. The bar crawl benefits the Ronald McDonald House Charities, taking you on an alcohol-filled sleigh ride through Westport, Martini Corner and Waldo.

Check-in starts at 4 p.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. at Kelly’s in Westport. Once everybody’s checked in and ready, you’ll board the bus (sleigh) and go to the following bars:

  • Brick House

  • Cliff’s Taphouse

  • Social

  • Lew’s

  • The Well

  • Bobby Baker’s

The last stop on the ride takes you back to Kelly’s for a Santa-themed after-party.

Tickets for this bar crawl cost $50.

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