One Bourbon, Seven Stars and a Chance to Make a Difference

Opportunities often arise unexpectedly from the connections we make. A simple conversation about weekend plans can spark a life-changing journey.

That’s how The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) found the Four Roses Charity Barrel Program. MACV, whose mission is to end veteran homelessness in Minnesota, learned about Four Roses from a supporter who believed it’d be a great fit, according to MACV Chief Operating Officer Jon Lovald. The program invites organizations to select a private barrel through a guided tasting experience, and the proceeds from the sale support the nonprofit’s mission.

For the last 35 years, MACV has been providing various forms of support to help end veteran homelessness in Minnesota. They can provide or link someone to housing, help with low-level legal services, connect people to medical services and provide financial services. 

“Any number of things that would be connected to your stint in housing instability, we provide or connect you to another organization that provides it,” Lovald says. “You can expect that somebody’s gonna try to help you. We’re not here to judge how you got into that situation; we are just looking for a solution that will provide you with housing.”

Lovald says many things could lead someone to this situation, but more often than not, they’ve already exhausted all their current resources and need that extra help. At the start, MACV asks a lot of questions, such as validating your service, but that’s so they can determine what resources you’re qualified for and how they can provide support.

MACV helps anyone who served, regardless of the time they served or their discharge. It’s important to them to say, “If you raised your right hand and you served, we’re here to help,” according to Lovald.

“I think that’s very important to the LGBTQ community because when I started serving in the ‘90s, we had a thing called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” Lovald says. “There were a lot of people who found themselves being pushed out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges because of their orientation, which is very much putting them at a disadvantage from the time that they get out of the military, moving forward.” 

MACV services can be used beyond finding housing, including for help with legal challenges that come with being part of the queer community, like legal changes to names, passports or driver’s licenses.

“A veteran is a veteran is a veteran. If we have homes where there’s shared living, if a trans person identifies as a woman, they’re going into the woman’s house and vice versa,” Lovald says. “There’s just that level of we meet you where you are and who you are and help you from there.”

MACV’s goal is to provide services to as many veterans as possible, so it hosts fundraising opportunities throughout the year to reach as many supporters as possible. They campaign with WCCO Home for the Holidays and Give to the Max, partner with many companies and organizations, and host hobby-based events such as golf, hunting, fishing and more.

This is their first time partnering with Four Roses, and it doesn’t come without sensitivity. With many veterans struggling with substance abuse or recovering from addiction, Lovald says it was important to look at the benefits and risks. 

The impact made through this fundraiser would make it possible for them to provide services to more veterans and reach a new audience of supporters, which is why they partnered with Blue Team Alpha, a veteran-owned business, which will promote the bottle, brand it with their logo and match each purchase, doubling the impact.

“It’s trying to reach people that maybe MACV hasn’t reached yet, and this is just another venue or forum to do that, and I think it’s a creative way … with a focus on how we can assist as many veterans as we possibly can,” retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Jon Jensen says.

A team of six travelled to the Four Roses Kentucky distillery in July to sample 10 barrels of bourbon and pick the best one to bring back to Minnesota. They ended up choosing a bourbon aged 10 years and 4 months with notes of deep oak, mellow spice and rich baking spice, aka Barrel Strength Four Roses OESK. It’s also one of Four Roses’ 10 unique bourbon recipes and a standout among its profiles.

“They hide the mash bill and they hide the age of the bourbon while you’re tasting and you don’t find out what everything is until after you’ve selected a barrel,” Jensen says. “The bottles that they’re gonna get from Four Roses will be that exact barrel … It’s the exact bourbon that we got to taste that day.”

MACV named the release “Seven Star Selection,” acknowledging the leadership of their selection team. The seven stars represent the three retired army generals on the selection team: Neal Loidolt, MACV president and CEO (retired U.S. Army Major General/2-star general); Jon Jensen, MACV board member (retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General/3-star general); and Mike Wickman, MACV supporter (retired U.S. Army Major General/2-star general).

“It’ll be our intent to have their three signatures on each one of these bottles and number these bottles, especially people that we’ve served with are gonna find these to be more valuable because of that,” Lovald says. “It’s gonna be a very good bourbon, it was just another opportunity to make this special not just for us, but for the people who are buying these bottles.”

Bottles are priced at $150 and will directly support outreach, housing and services for veterans through MACV. Only 100 bottles are available in this release and can be reserved at go.mac-v.org/l/898231/2025-09-10/6njr33.

Find more information about The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans at mac-v.org.