A few years ago my son, Kevin Barrett, founded his dream, a distillery making premium Vodka, Gin and Whiskey. A few days ago, however, he was in the ICU dealing with the trauma of breaking six ribs, shattering his clavicle and puncturing his lung. He fell from a ladder.

I would say “The timing couldn’t have been worse!” maybe it could have. Let's just say the timing really sucks. 


He can't lift anything over 5 lbs. That's less than a gallon of water. He can manage the day-to-day operations, but not without some help. On top of that, he just started construction on a new facility in downtown Springfield, Oregon. One that will hopefully bring his company to the forefront of local craft cocktails and spirits. This is a make-it-or-break-it scenario. He will be on the hook for some serious debt, which he’s fine with, but the only way he was going to make the budget was by doing as much of the work that he was allowed or able to do.  Now he can’t. His injuries prevent him from completing a very long list of vital improvements that are necessary to make the new facility top-notch.


Kevin is passionate about what he does, but, unfortunately he has no “employees”.  He does have some support in production and few valuable advisors that help keep his head on straight, but he is now incapacitated, having surgery in a few weeks and recovering for another 12-16 weeks thereafter.  

Many people have offered their help to Kevin in the past and now I'm hoping you will. This gofundme isn’t about raising money.  While that side of it will allow for a less stressful recovery the BIGGEST part of this campaign is YOU, your time and a team of helpers/volunteers.

The best way you can help is to donate your skill-sets or any services you can offer. Can you paint or sand? Are you a carpenter, electrician, plumber, handy-man, artist, designer, printer, social media wiz, woodworker, millwright, welder, lawyer, laborer? He needs you ALL. He needs you NOW!

If you can't volunteer your time just share this campaign with all of your friends.  One of them could end up being a valuable asset, which, in turn, makes your willingness to share it your valuable contribution!

I want to be clear. You are not donating to the distillery. Your donation is to help Kevin! They may be one in the same to most people, but it needs to be stated, for the record, that this is not an ask from his company.  Kevin, however, has no idea how he will complete the list of items he was intending to do himself.  He does a tremendous amount of the work on his own to save the company money, perhaps too much work.

If you do donate money, it will be used to help pay for things he would have built himself or paying skilled labor for services. If you know Kevin, you know he will not let this endeavor fail. He will do whatever it takes. Like asking you for help when he knows he needs it. He’s come too far to see this fail. Please, help him with this transition and be a part of making this dream come true! 

What You Can Do -

You can help by:

Donating to this campaign through:
1. The Donate button on this page
2.  Leave a comment at the bottom of the page with how we can reach you and what services you can volunteer. If you want to send your contact info privately just send Kevin a private message on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kevinbarrett1972
3. Sharing this campaign:
Please take a minute out of your day to share this story to as many people as possible. An immediate email or a post on Facebook will make a timely, successful campaign! 

We could use your help tonight, tomorrow, this weekend. The clock is running.