A confluence of sweat, beer and big hearts in metro Denver have combined over the past nine years to generate almost $120,000 for breast cancer research.

Dubbed the Brewery Boot Camp for Breast Cancer, more than 150 participants gathered earlier this month to work out in a parking lot-turned workout space at the Colorado Fitness Headquarters, then raise money for nonprofit organization Drink for Pink while enjoying live music and a mini beer festival.

“Our Brewery Boot Camp community is huge,” said Lindsay Chavez, who runs the event and the Brewery Boot Camp business with her husband Paul Chavez. “They’re just an absolutely huge part of how we’ve been able to be successful with this.”

The couple has turned the phrase “earn your beer” into a business model. They work with 13-15 breweries around metro Denver to host Brewery Boot Camp workouts there before the brewery opens, then participants get discounted beer. Before the pandemic, they worked with as many as 35 breweries.

Around the time the former Lifetime Fitness trainers were forming the business in 2014, they met Alex Mozota and Jeremy Duvall — who were working on starting a breast cancer research fundraising organization Drink for Pink (“Putting the ‘hop’ in hope.”)

“We love the craft beer scene,” Mozota said. “We love how each brewery has its own community, kind of like your local neighborhood bar.”

So they tried to tap into those communities to raise money. They had become disillusioned with the large, big name charities and professional leagues “pink washing” — a term to describe the trend of those organizations spending more on administrative costs than donating to breast cancer research.

“We read all the media coverage about how much — or how little actually — was going to cover the cause,” Mozota said. “Because of that, transparency stays very, very high in our focus.”

Brewers shot down ideas like pink caps on bottles to signify to customers a donation was being made, or changing beer recipes in any way to make, say, pink beer.

But they did like the idea of harnessing their brewery community to raise money. So Drink for Pink started organizing charity fundraisers like cornhole tournaments, 5K runs and, eventually, the Brewery Boot Camp fundraiser.

“I give all the credit to Lindsay and Paul on that,” he said. “They took this on in 2016 and have done an event every year since. Even during COVID times, they did a virtual workout/fundraiser in 2020.”

Chavez said 100% of the proceeds raised go to breast cancer research. They donated their time to deploy dozens of volunteers to set up workout stations in the large parking lot next to their Colorado Fitness Headquarters in Centennial (conveniently located next to Blue Spruce Brewery).

They use sponsors to donate to the silent and live auctions and provide food and breweries like Lone Tree Brewing Co., Wild Sky Brewery, Blue Spruce and Mile High Pie Co. to provide beer and spirits for the after-event.

“I think 2022 was our biggest event. We raised an amazing amount of money – like $36,000,” Chavez said. The event has drawn up to 250 participants.

Mozota, whose “day job” is as a staffing consultant, said they were also looking for more creative ways to hold fundraisers that would attract a younger crowd.

“Sometimes when you talk about charity work and nonprofit work, it just feels like expensive galas with older folks,” he said. “We wanted to create a fun charity that you show up, you workout, you drink the beer and you help us.”

Drink for Pink is also 100% volunteer. All the money it raises from the Boot Camp, and several other events throughout the year, goes to the Cancer League of Colorado.

That organization, too, is “composed entirely of volunteers” with “no paid staff and no offices.” All operating expenses are paid by membership dues, according to its website. It hosts big events like the Hope Ball, Race for Research and the Cancer League Golf Tournament.

Drink for Pink started using the League before it was even an official 501(c)(3) organization, so it didn’t have to wait, and just continued using them.

“They have a board of directors that includes doctors and such,” he said. “They do double-blind acceptance studies to understand … what research is the most promising.”

Drink for Pink has raised almost $190,000 in its 11 years.

“I’ve just met some incredible people in my years doing Drink for Pink,” Mozota said. “I’ve met incredible survivors. I’ve had folks join the board because of their experience. We’ve lost people who have been diagnosed, too.”

The mission became a lot more personal for the Chavezes too, after Paul’s mom was diagnosed in 2019.

“This is something that made it really personal. … (but) we’re all really affected by it,” Chavez said. “Everyone has a reason – whether their mother, sister or whomever – they feel like they’re at least doing something to help out.”

But like many good things, they end. So, it was the last year for the Brewery Boot Camp for Breast Center, and Drink for Pink is also coming to an end. But the Brewery Boot Camps continue at those partner breweries several times per week. Schedules and memberships are on the company website.

“I think nine years is a really good run,” Mozota said. “It’s a tremendous amount of work. My kids were 9 and 7-years-old then, now one went to college and other is two years out. It’s been really great for me to show them that volunteerism and helping out, giving back is a really good thing to do.”