At Davidson & Associates, one of our top priorities is giving back to the community that has given so much to us. The leaders in our community, board members, neighborhood volunteers, restaurant owners and innovators are the people who shape our future in positive ways. We’re proud of the work being done to enhance Clark County. To honor some of our local nonprofits we partner together in our Referral rewards program to highlight the good they do through hard work and innovation. Now, we’d like to showcase local businesses who go above and beyond to interweave community involvement into their everyday business.
Russell Brent has made his restaurant, the Mill Creek Pub, a strong support for Battle Ground, WA and the greater Clark County area for years. Their mission is to connect the community with food made from the heart. This mission not only relates to their food style and restaurant strategy but it’s at the center of the way the crew at Mill Creek engages with Battle Ground and the surrounding area.
Eating at Mill Creek Pub is an exercise in nostalgia. You can walk in the door and enjoy great food in an atmosphere that feels warm and familiar. This nostalgic environment arises from the landscape of the area. Battle Ground has a rich history centered on the area’s mill communities, which led to the restaurant’s intentional design that won the 2012 Top Project Best Remodel.
The focal point of the space, a large waterwheel, ties into Mill Creek Pub’s belief in giving back to the community. Visitors throw spare pennies and coins into the water, and the collected change has been donated to the Battle Ground Education Foundation for the last four years. In addition to the donated change, Brent has connected outside partners to match or contribute to the amount collected from the wheel. His work gathering these donations has resulted in $20,000 in support for Battle Ground public school students last year. As MC of their auction dinners for the past two years, Russell Brent also helped raise over $50,000.
Another program designed to enhance the restaurant’s commitment to community is Mill Creek’s supper club. The program welcomes community members with Alzheimer’s and Dementia and their caretakers to an early dinner at the restaurant. The team creates special menus and a calm environment to serve these families and to ensure that they feel welcome and at home. The staff are also specially trained to care for them. Through this comforting atmosphere and intentional care from the staff, a vulnerable group of people are reminded of the community that still cares for them. The restaurant is also a welcoming spot for veteran events. Brent, who comes from a military family, is deeply committed to serving them. Last Saturday, Mill Creek Pub hosted the Marine Corps anniversary to celebrate veterans in the area and our armed forces.
By creating a warm environment that feels like home, welcoming vulnerable community members and their families and raising support through local nonprofits, Russell Brent and the team at Mill Creek Pub draw the community together and give back to their customers and society. Through their hard work, the restaurant has raised and donated $244,000 and won 68 awards. Mill Creek Pub is not just a restaurant, it’s a local business who cares deeply about the people who live in their area. We’re grateful for local businesses like The Mill Creek Pub who go above and beyond to serve their neighbors.
