Seattle’s Rain City Relief Charity Campaign

What is Rain City Relief?

Rain City Relief is a benefit for the Seattle music community that provides music fans with an opportunity to make a financial contribution in exchange for a vinyl compilation album featuring 10 of Seattle’s best artists. The project includes a music video series and has been underwritten by the cannabis retailer, The Reef.

Rain City Relief was sparked by the idea that the cannabis industry should be a force for good. Midway through 2020, the team at Seattle-based cannabis retailer, The Reef, had just completed a project to restore Arcade Plaza pavement park on Capitol Hill.  

“This opportunity to give back to the community got us thinking about what else we could do. We wondered if we could partner with different organizations to have a greater impact,” says Adam Simon, owner of The Reef.

Simon and employee Jesse Codling are both avid music fans and so they started brainstorming ways they could help Seattle artists whose professional careers had been shut down by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“Jesse introduced me to Seth McDonald and the Seattle World Tour Foundation. Seth seemed to have his finger on the pulse of Seattle’s music scene.  We got together and the idea to record a compilation vinyl record featuring Seattle’s breakout artists really appealed to everyone.”

After much discussion, the group decided that the best way they could make a meaningful impact for these artists would be through direct financial contributions. That’s why 75% of the proceeds of the sale of the Rain City Relief Record will go directly to artists. The remaining 25% will go to a new non-profit artist relief fund created by the Seattle World Tour Foundation for this project and future music-focused philanthropy.

This approach is possible because The Reef, with partners including WeedMaps and  PAX, has underwritten all of the costs associated with filming and recording each artist at MOB Studios and producing the vinyl record which will be available later this year.

Simon says the initial plan was to approach a range of businesses to be sponsors. The only companies willing to step up were cannabis companies. “We have found that cannabis business owners are community-minded and always willing to step up and offer support. Generally, cannabis companies have few opportunities to connect with consumers. For many, they are more than happy to use their advertising dollars to do something good for the community.”

Giving back has always been part of The Reef’s ethos. From the start, the company has donated 5% of its profits to community organizations year-round. At checkout, each customer is asked which organization they would like the profit from their purchase applied towards.

The group hopes that Rain City Relief will introduce music lovers to great local music via an era-defining album of Seattle artists and inspire the artist community to collaborate more. Of course, the ultimate goal is to provide needed financial relief to the artists.

Simon says this project would not have been possible without the leadership of Seattle World Tour’s co-founder, Seth McDonald, and the vision of Jesse Coding from The Reef. “This is a great example of how local companies can make a huge impact on their communities by being creative and giving back.”

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBGeh_PldL2jtWjtzcl5YQg/playlists

Instagram: @RainCityRelief

Twitter: @RainCityRelief

FB: www.facebook.com/RainCityRelief

Key information:

• 75% of the proceeds from the record go directly to featured artists
• 25% go to nonprofit Seattle World Tour’s artist relief fund
• Rain City Relief has been made possible by the generous support of cannabis industry companies including: The Reef, PAX® and Weedmaps.

• The video was recorded at MOB Studios
• The vinyl record will be released in January 2022
• See the review

ABOUT THE REEF

The Reef Cannabis is a top-tier dispensary with Seattle shops located in Capitol Hill and Georgetown, as well as Bremerton, WA.

ABOUT SEATTLE WORLD TOUR FOUNDATION

SWTF’s mission is to build a more equitable and healthy community by helping to provide funding and programming to underserved communities. In partnership with businesses through unique events, programs and concerts