Parties are cancelled, but food pantries are not.
And Encore Events Rentals is helping to feed a hungry county in need.
Weddings, parties and auctions are on hold, but the parking lot at the Sonoma County Day School hosts two enormous event tents. They’re Encore’s, and they’re helping the Redwood Empire Food Bank operate a drive-through food pantry. Encore’s owner, Bridget Doherty and her team have donated room in their north county Windsor warehouse to store food for the pantry. And instead of their usual spring chores of washing china and glassware, packaging linens and racking chairs, Encore employees are unloading and sorting crate after crate of food, to help their local communities.
“When she cares about something, Bridget always says ‘yes,'” says Encore’s Marketing Manager Kendall Burger. “So, when we had to temporarily close the business because of COVID-19, this was how she wanted to respond.”
Encore, together with its sister company Cal West Rentals, is a family-owned business which has been a great COTS supporter over many years. Bridget’s made financial contributions and huge material donations. Anyone remember how beautiful our tables looked at The COTS Hour in 2019? That was thanks to Bridget’s generous donation of linens. But in addition to giving to COTS, Encore Events supports a multitude of causes: everything from Little League and the Boys and Girls Club to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Together with her brother Tyler Doherty, Bridget owns Encore Events Rentals and Cal West Rentals. Currently, Tyler operates Cal West in Petaluma and San Rafael, which rents tools and equipment, and Bridget operates Encore Events Rentals with its three locations in Sonoma County.
Bridget learned the rental business from taking over daily operations at Cal-West in 2001. When Bridget was only 22 years old, her father, Pat Doherty, passed unexpectedly. Though Bridget had dreams of law school, she didn’t want to lose the business her Dad had founded in 1978. Fresh out of college, she took charge. Tyler joined her in 2007 after he’d completed college himself, later to take on full operations of Cal-West.
Bridget credits her team and Cal West’s senior staff with helping her learn the ropes. She’s come to love the creativity of entrepreneurship and the way employees and managers can inspire each other to work as a team.
Partly as a result of her baptism by fire, Bridget’s been a huge supporter of causes which support women and women-owned businesses.
Women In Conversation, the annual event at SSU which works to build a community of women engaged in meaningful conversations, is a favorite that Bridget sponsors bi-annually.
Encore has its main showroom in Windsor, another in Petaluma, as well as a design studio in St. Helena. Bridget is active throughout Sonoma County. Notably, she was the first female board member with Summit Bank and she presently serves as board president for Corazón, a Healdsburg non-profit. Corazón’s mission is to bridge the racial and economic divides in Northern Sonoma County through advocacy, partnerships and innovative programs.
Bridget says, simply: “I’m all about teamwork and supporting my community.”
On behalf of COTS and our community, thank you, Encore Events Rentals!
Want to read more stories about our business sponsors? Visit our Business Gives Back homepage by clicking here!
Share this story with your friends and family: