Update for Nov. 21
Kendall Jones, founder of the organization that brings together beer drinkers to raise money for charity, reports the 13th Annual Beer Church Turkey Bowl was "another great event" with $4,000 in cash and around 2,000 pounds of food raised for the West Seattle Food Bank.

The fundraiser comes at a critical time as the holidays are always the busiest for food banks, coupled with rising need in a down economy and funding cuts from the state and federal level. (You can read more about those challenges here).

Here is the official recap from Jones at the Washington Beer Blog site:

Participants at the 13th Annual Beer Church Turkey Bowl included a total of 199 bowlers and dozens of spectators. Beer Churchis the charitable arm of the Washington Beer Blog. We organize and operate the events but it is the participants, volunteers and sponsors who actually make a difference.

Two competitions took place within the larger Beer Church Turkey Bowl event. First of all, eight breweries fought it out for the Beer Church Battle of the Brewers trophy. This year Naked City Brewing walked away victorious. The breweries involved in the Battle of the Brewers included Two Beers Brewing, Elliott Bay Brewing, Odin Brewing,Emerald City Beer Co, Schooner Exact Brewing, Pike Brewing, Elysian Brewing, andNaked City Brewing.

The Washington Beer Blog wants to thank all of the breweries that worked with us over the past couple months. This was the third charity fundraiser that we have organized in the past eight weeks: Craft:Beer+Food, BitterSweet:Beer+Chocolate, and now Turkey Bowl. Our participating breweries generously donated time, beer, swag and creative energy. We very much appreciate their support.

The other competition within Turkey Bowl involved seven local bars competing for the Beer Church Bar Brawl trophy. Elliott Bay Brewery Pub won an incredibly close race, ending West 5′s three-year run as champs. The top three finishers in the Bar Brawl ended up within one point of each other. The bars involved in the Bar Brawl this year included Beveridge Place Pub, Feedback Lounge, West 5, Mission, Latona Pub, Dog & Pony, and Elliott Bay Brewing (the pub’s team).

West 5 was the undisputed food champion again this year, bringing over 600 lbs. of food. Their contribution to the annual Beer Church food drive is always an inspiration. Also, big thanks to our sponsor who donated prizes for our Target Raffle and helped us raise over $4,000.

We also want to extend our thanks to the crew of Turkey Bowl volunteers: Chelsea Asplund, Shannon and Nancy Sharpe, Mark and Barb Vadakin, Darol Hinton, and Allen Maxwell. It was also great to see the West Seattle Food Bank bring a group of bowlers to enjoy the event.

Original preview posted on Nov. 15
Beer Church, an organization that brings together beer drinkers to raise money for charity, has their 13th Annual Turkey Bowl coming on Nov. 19 at West Seattle Bowl. As of Nov. 14 there were still 3 lanes available ($200 a lane for up to eight bowlers - email washingtonbeerblog@yahoo.com to sign up). Even if you are not bowling, Beer Church encourages anyone to stop by, donate food to the West Seattle Food Bank and enjoy a philanthropy-infused beer.

Press release from Beer Church:
Beer Drinkers Unite to Help Feed the Hungry
The 13th Annual Turkey Bowl takes place Saturday, November 19th at 6:00 p.m. in West Seattle. Organized by Beer Church, the event is a fundraiser and food drive to benefit the West Seattle Food Bank. More than 200 guests will attend the event at West Seattle Bowl (4505 39th Ave. SW, Seattle).

There is limited space for bowlers but anyone is welcome to attend the event and participate in the raffle. The event starts at 6:00 p.m. but Beer Church encourages the public to drop off food donations at West Seattle Bowl on Saturday between 1:00 and 8:00 p.m.

“This is an especially appropriate time of year for people to think about hunger in our community,” says Kendall Jones, Director of Beer Church. “Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for the abundance of food that so many of us enjoy but it is also a good time to slow down and think about the people struggling in our community. That’s why Turkey Bowl is a benefit for the West Seattle Food Bank: we want to help people remember that hunger is a real issue and we want to give them a fun and easy way to contribute.”

Last year’s Beer Church Turkey Bowl netted over 3,000 pounds of food and over $3,000 in donations. Organizers hope to exceed those numbers this year. Participants will include a number of teams from local breweries and local bars. In addition to bowling, the event features a raffle for prizes donated by local merchants.

Among the participants, eight local breweries will battle it out for the coveted Battle of the Brewers trophy. Likewise, eight local bars will compete for the Bar Brawl trophy. Breweries involved: Elliott Bay Brewing, Elysian Brewing, Emerald City Beer Co., Georgetown Brewing, Naked City Brewing, Odin Brewing, Pike Brewing, and Schooner Exact Brewing. Local bars involved: Beveridge Place Pub, Dog and Pony Alehouse, Feedback Lounge, Latona Pub (3 Pubs), Mission, Porterhouse Pub, and West 5.

About Beer Church
Beer Church is a Seattle-based organization dedicated to one simple principle — make the world a better place one beer at a time. To that end, Beer Church organizes fundraisers that provide easy and fun ways for beer lovers to contribute to the community.