Fundraiser for Railroad Square set for Saturday in Downtown Tallahassee | Brew Bend

A little over a month ago, Tallahassee got hit by a 100-year flood that caused an insane amount of damage in our area. Lots of local businesses were hit hard and we tried to do our part to raise awareness about how to help them. And with it being a weather event that hasn't happened in a century, we figured Tallahassee may have paid its dues for the year to Mother Nature.

But sadly, that was not the case.

Exactly a week ago today, Tallahassee was on the wrong side of Mother Nature's fury once again as several tornadoes rolled through our area and caused an even more insane amount of damage than a few weeks prior. In the aftermath we've seen it called the "worst tornado strike in Tallahassee's 200 years of history." And while we're not sure if that's true or not, we are sure of this: it was bad. Really, really bad.

You could argue which pocket of Tallahassee was hardest hit by the category F2 tornadoes, but the one that got more attention than most was the Railroad Square area, which is full of truly small businesses and artists working hard every day to make their dream a reality.

And on Saturday at 4 pm at South Station (1215 South Adams), we have banded together with members of our community to help our friends in Railroad Square.

That's when we're going to hold another edition of our charity bottle shares and make the businesses affected in Railroad Square the benefactors.

Funny story: this bottle share has actually been planned for a couple weeks, and was going to benefit a great local organization in the Second Harvest of the Big Bend. But after the tornadoes hit, Second Harvest graciously agreed to switch the focus to helping Railroad Square. However we're still going to include our friends at Second Harvest on Saturday.

Hosting the party will be yours truly, Mobi Street Food and Autrey's BBQ, the latter of which are two businesses that hold regular lunch pop-ups every Friday at South Station. They're providing complimentary food for attendees, and will also have some food for sale.

But here's the part we're most excited about: Joining us at this bottle share will be displaced members of the RRSQ business community, and they're going to come and set up shop in the South Station beer garden during the bottle share and give everyone a chance to buy their merch, products and services and support them.

Whether you've been to one of charity bottle shares or not before, it's good to get a refresh about how Saturday will work:

1. Show up. Invite a friend. Invite 10 friends. And have everyone drop a suggested $20 cash donation in the donation bucket or swipe your card and make it that way. Because the power of these events is in the numbers - the more people who come, the more donations we can collect for our friends in Railroad Square

2. In addition to a monetary donation for RRSQ and to take part in the bottle share, we're asking that you not forget about our friends at Second Harvest and ALSO bring a non-perishable food item to donate. They sent us a "needs" list earlier this week, and it includes: Canned fruits, canned vegetables, canned meat, cereal, soups and peanut butter. That way we can give the monetary donations to RRSQ and the food donations to Second Harvest. It's a win-win.

3. Bring a beer or beers to share. The crux of these bottle shares is all the GREAT beers people bring to share, so make sure you reach way back in that fridge and load up something good. Once you arrive, toss your beer in one of our many coolers and then sit bac, relax and enjoy sampling copious amounts of amazing beer!

4. Enjoy the food provided by our hosts and then come back and see them some day during lunch! Mobi Street Food and Autrey's BBQ have formed a powerhouse team, and their lunches each Friday have been EPIC. A mix of Asaian and American BBQ, they are putting out some great items every week with a new menu that changes regularly. And they are graciously donating food to keep everyone fed while we sample beers.

5. Support the RRSQ vendors who will be there. Buy that piece of art you've been eying. Order something custom. And show them some love. We've invited them so they have a chance to sell their products while their storefronts are being rebuilt, so this is the chance to do so.

All the money donated Saturday will be sent to the official Railroad Square GoFundMe , which was started shortly after the storms by local resident Will Crowley, who works closely with RRSQ. As of the writing of this column on Wednesday, the fundraiser had already fetched nearly $14,000 — and we're hoping to add a lot more.

So we hope you'll come out and support the cause Saturday and help us raise money for RRSQ. And if you have any questions about ANYTHING, please feel free to reach out to us on social media or by email at: TLHBeerSociety@gmail.com .

Together, we can all do a small part to help Railroad Square bounce back in a big way!

Danny Aller is the co-founder, along with Matthew Crumbaker, of the TLH Beer Society. Reach the Beer Society on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or email  tlhbeersociety@gmail.com .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Fundraiser for Railroad Square set for Saturday in Tallahassee