Adventurous Stills pivots from making whiskey to hand sanitizer, donates product to YMCA

A Valley non-profit gets a really big hand as it re-opens during a pandemic -- and that assistance came from a small business that is struggling -- perhaps one of the best examples you'll see of community supporting community.

It was a big delivery at the Christown YMCA: a 55 gallon drum of hand sanitizer.

The donation comes at a time when the non-profit needed a hand. Membership revenue was down at the Valley of the Sun YMCA because of COVID-19, according to director of communications, Shelby Tuttle.

Stretching the budget was important, but keeping guests safe as they returned was more important.

Tuttle reached out to a local business in an effort to support them and get the supplies they needed.

"When I had reached out to Kelly, it had taken him a couple of days to figure out what the pricing would be for us and I was so surprised when he came back and said you know what, we just want to donate all of it to you.. we feel like it's the right thing to do.. what the Y stands for."

"I just knew that they needed it. We try to support the local community where we can," said Kelly Lattig, who is part owner of Adventurous Stills.

Lattig says when the pandemic hit, business took a dive. He and his partners used materials they had to pivot. Instead of whiskey, the distillery started making a product that was high in demand.

"Since hand sanitizer is 80% ethyl alcohol, that's exactly the right stuff to start with. We have lots of it and the first obvious thing to do is don't throw this stuff away. Save it, add the few ingredients.. to make hand sanitizer and off we go."

The hand sanitizer donated by Adventurous Stills is at the front desk, fitness center, child care, anywhere and everywhere there are touch points so members and staff feel they're doing their part to stop the spread.

"Having the donation come from a small business within our community was really huge for us as a non-profit, but we know that it was a big deal for them to give it to us, too. We really appreciated community supporting community," said Tuttle.

"And we're ready to support them again if we can," said Lattig.

Tuttle says in all, the donation saved the Valley of the Sun YMCA nearly $2,000. Adventurous Stills also donated hand sanitizer to the city of Phoenix and the Tempe Police Department.

Adventurous Stills
2125 E. 5th St., Unit 102
Tempe, AZ 85281
480-292-8770
https://www.adventstills.com

Valley of the Sun YMCA
350 N. 1st Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85003
602-257-5120
https://valleyymca.org