The tastings will go on. Earlier this week Glenda Hastings at Napa Café hosted a virtual wine dinner, and on Saturday, DJ Naylor at Celtic Crossing continues his whiskey tasting series, this time on Zoom.

Here’s how it works: Buy your ticket for $30 by clicking here, then go to Celtic, 903 S. Cooper, on Friday between 11 a.m.-9 p.m. or on Saturday 1-6 p.m. to pick up your Scotch eggs and your whiskey; call ahead at 901-274-5151 and let them know when you’re coming and someone will bring your bag to your car.

You’ll get a sample of Dingle Single Malt Irish Whiskey Batch No. 4; Irish Whiskey Awards gold medal winner for 2019; Glenkinchie Single Malt, a lowland Scotch whisky and E.H. Taylor Jr. Straight Rye, 2020 Whiskey of the World favorite.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday, you’ll get an email invitation to join the Zoom meeting, and there you are. Follow along as Naylor talks about the whiskeys and shows slides. You should be able to ask questions, though this is the first time around for the Zoom tasting and it’s subject to change. Be sure to join Zoom ahead of time. 

As agencies across the community step up to provide food and essentials for those in need during the coronavirus pandemic, International Paper has stepped as well in a way that allows local entities to do more.

The Memphis-based company has donated 50,000 corrugated boxes to the Mid-South Food Bank, helping the agency to provide 14-day food kits to low-income children and other vulnerable populations. It has given boxes to the DeSoto County Dream Center in Horn Lake, Hunger2Hope in Southaven and to the Memphis Dream Center for its drive-through food distribution.

And, along with its annual paper donation to Shelby County Schools, IP has given the school district an additional 141 pallets of paper, allowing SCS to print educational packets for students who have been out of classrooms since March 13.

The YMCA has also received a paper donation to help support SCS during the pandemic.

“People depend on our products. Corrugated boxes are essential to the production and delivery of food, hygiene products and emergency supplies, and our paper is indispensable in education,” said Alissa Campbell Shaw, senior manager of community engagement and executive director of the IP Foundation in a statement. “We’re in a special position to help our community organizations cast a wider safety net for those in need.”

Another Memphis whiskey maker is making hand sanitizer to meet demand in the coronavirus pandemic.

B.R. Distilling Company said it is producing more than 250,000 units of medical-grade hand sanitizer for an initial order to supply hospitals and first responders nationwide. It expects the project to grow during the next month.

Previously, Old Dominick Distillery said it would produce up to 10,000 units of hand sanitizer for distribution to lower-income, elderly and homeless people in Shelby County.

B.R. Distilling, formerly known as Big River Distillling, produces Blue Note Bourbon and Riverset Rye at a facility in North Memphis.

B.R. Distilling director of operations Alexander Folk said in a news release, “As a Memphis-based, manufacturing business, we were presented with a unique opportunity to make a large impact on our nation’s critical supply chain needs.

“As a team, we made the decision to retool our whiskey production lines to help manufacture this critical resource in order to meet the escalating demand,” Folk said.

B.R. has already shipped several truck loads produced according to guidelines set by the World Health Organization and Food and Drug Administration. The sanitizer isn’t available for wholesale or retail purchase.

“We have been called to action, but we have limited supplies and resources relative to the enormity of this crisis,” said McCauley Williams, president and chief executive officer of B.R. Distilling. “We wish we had enough supplies to give away hand sanitizer to every individual who wants it, but we do not. Right now, it is critical we get this product to the organizations on the front lines who are fighting tirelessly.”

Mid-South Food Bank President Cathy Pope started holding meetings to prepare for the coronavirus outbreak to prepare for the challenges that the Memphis area would face. 

The food bank’s goal is to lighten the load placed on Shelby County families so the organization went into “emergency mode” to face the challenge more effectively. Since March 1, Mid-South Food Bank has given out 2.3 million pounds of food in a variety of different ways — one of which is mobile pantries.

For full story, go here. 

The Binghampton Development Corp. established a COVID-19 Response Fund on Wednesday, April 1, to help neighborhood residents in need, according to BDC director Noah Gray.

The fund’s purpose is to provide emergency assistance for Binghampton residents who are struggling to find money to pay rent, mortgages and utility bills. The BDC says 100% of all funds received will go directly to supporting residents.

“We are seeing residents struggle with loss of employment, inaccessibility to food and household goods, and a rapid decrease in options for child care, transportation and internet access,” Gray said. “We know that many economically vulnerable individuals and families in Binghampton will now increasingly struggle to make ends meet.”

If you want to donate to the COVID-19 response fund, here is a link.

You can also donate a check through the mail with “COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND” in the memo to Binghampton Development Corporation, P.O. Box 111447 Memphis, TN 38111.

Dogwood teachers, administrators and school mascot Daisy the Dolphin paraded through the school zone in cars recently as a way to be with their students.

The students missed their teachers, and the teachers missed seeing the children each day. Classes are not scheduled to resume until at least April 24.

So the teachers created a way to see their students during this time of separation and social distancing.

Students lined the sidewalks with signs, and Dogwood staff decorated their vehicles. They waved to one another as the teachers passed in their cars.

“That was something I will not forget,” parent Brian Ueleke said. “Just one of those moments that captured the positive attitude of folks in this hard time.”