LONGMONT — After donating more than $275,000 last year, Left Hand Brewing Company hopes to expand its giving this year with the launch of a foundation that would provide emergency funding.

Over the past 20 years, Left Hand has held numerous fundraisers for local, national and international disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and fires across Colorado.

Now, the company’s hoping the Left Hand Brewing Foundation, which will be managed by the Longmont Community Foundation, will allow it to act quickly when emergencies occur, said Joshua Goldberg, Left Hand’s events and community coordinator.

What: Summer Jam Concert Series Summer Jam Concert Series When: 5 p.m. Saturday, May 18 Where: Left Hand Brewing Company, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont Cost: $15 For more: lefthandbrewing.com

The foundation will kick off Saturday at Left Hand’s Summer Jam, the first of three concerts coming to the brewery this summer. Proceeds from the concert will go to the foundation, he said.

“The LHBF will allow us to respond quickly and efficiently, with a directed act of support for issues and emergencies important to the Longmont community and our neighbors,” Goldberg said. “The foundation falls into our mantra of doing the right thing, and with that attitude and the success of the brewery, we’ve been able to up the ante.”

In the past five years, the company has raised more than $500,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and has donated at least 1 percent of all profits since 2005.

Left Hand founder Eric Wallace said there are moral and technical reasons the company wanted to launch a foundation, which has been a goal since the brewery opened.

“By making our own foundation, it gives us some flexibility on whom we can give money to,” Wallace said. “It’s an additional tool to be able to do more as we continue to grow.”

Whitney Bryen can be reached at 303-684-5274 or wbryen@times-call.com.