The guild will donate proceeds from the holiday party's ticket and raffle sales to New York's Bartenders' Guild chapter, which has been buying cleaning supplies and new equipment for damaged and closed bars, as well as helping supplement income for out-of-work bartenders.

"Hurricane insurance isn't typically under most NYC bars' and restaurants' umbrella and we have several bartender friends who are still out of work, so we wanted to do something that could directly help our Northern comrades," said Jessica Sanders, the secretary of the Austin bartenders' guild and a former New Yorker.

It's personal for Sanders: Before she and her husband moved to Austin a few years ago, they were engaged at The Paris, a restaurant steps from the Brooklyn Bridge and South Street Seaport, which is "closed until further notice."

"We hope that some of these funds will make their way to The Paris," she said.

For Sanders, giving back to an old haunt helps remove the grit.