By Annabella Mireles
Photogaphy by Annabella Mireles
As the United States experienced the longest government shutdown in history, spanning 43 days from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, communities across the nation experienced hardships, including SNAP benefits taking a pause.
However, if El Paso is known for anything, it’s being neighborly, and Old Sheepdog Brewery is a testament to that.
The brewery, among several other businesses such as Cafe Piro, Aurellia’s Bottleshop and Brewhouse, and Weirdough’s Bakery, have helped the community during this difficult time by offering free meals. Co-owners Gus Delgado and Brisa Regalado offered free breakfast burritos per person for those with government ID’s or SNAP cards.
The husband-and-wife duo opened their doors in 2018 and have been known amongst the city for their involvement in the community, because to them, their business is much more than a brewhouse.
“We kept up with the government shutdown and SNAP benefits because we have friends who work for the government, and we’ve seen how much they’ve struggled to be able to keep up with feeding their families,” Regalado said. “We know how hard it is, and the economy itself is very challenging right now.”
The brewery, which is now open all day, helps families in need by offering their breakfast burritos during their hours of operation and has been doing so since Nov. 1.
“We’ve served about seven to 10 people a day more or less,” Delgado said. “We recently got a call from someone asking if they could come pick up a burrito for their elderly neighbor of 80 who was struggling.”
Their generosity inspired members of the community to help pitch in and do their part during this time of need.
“We had some customers come through and deliver groceries because they wanted to help the cause,” Regalado said.
Despite the shutdown ending Nov. 12, some families still have to wait for full SNAP funding to come back.
“We’ve been keeping up with news on SNAP benefits because we don’t know when families will receive them,” Regalado said. “So, we’re going to keep going until we make sure everybody’s been funded.”
While Old Sheepdog is a brewery, the business houses many works from local artists, serves as an occasional music venue, helps raise money for local causes, and even serves as a venue for political debates. It’s no wonder the county named them the “cerveza del pueblo.”
“We are the people’s beer, so everything that we do in this place is for the people, and that extends to whatever is going on and whatever support is needed in the community,” Regalado said.
“We are here for the community,” Delgado said. “We always say, if there is anybody out there who is struggling and needs some type of help with food or wants to talk to somebody, Sheepdog’s always open for that.”
For more information on the brewery’s hours of operation and events, visit https://oldsheepdogbrewery.webflow.io/contact
For those seeking food assistance during this time, visit https://www.findhelp.org/food/food-pantry–el-paso-tx for this list of local pantries.
