E-Malt.com News article: 3342

USA: Anheuser-Busch and its independent wholesalers continue to aid hurricane victims. The US brewery announced on September 21, 2004 that in response to the series of hurricanes and tropical storms that have taken numerous lives and caused devastating damage to many states, Anheuser-Busch and its family of independent wholesalers had developed a nationwide program called “Operation Hurricane Relief” to assist in the hurricane relief efforts.

The program is being launched with a $500,000 donation from Anheuser-Busch and will be $1 million through contributions from its nationwide wholesaler family. All funds will go toward relief efforts coordinated by the American Red Cross and other relief organizations.

“Families have lost loved ones, as well as their homes and belongings, and tens of thousands have been without electricity and clean drinking water. The devastation over the past few weeks has reached into the billions,” said August A. Busch IV, President of Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “We want to help. For more than 50 years, our company motto has been, ‘Making Friends is Our Business.' With the support of our dedicated wholesalers, we hope to translate that motto into action by raising funds to help the victims and their communities in this time of crisis.”

“In response to the devastation wrought by the hurricanes, the American Red Cross mobilized a massive relief effort that includes providing emergency food, water and shelter to hundreds of thousands of people impacted by the storm,” says Skip Seitz, senior vice president of growth and integrated development of the American Red Cross. “The Red Cross is committed to meeting needs of disaster victims in the weeks and months ahead as they begin their recovery. Donations from generous corporations like Anheuser-Busch are critical to that ongoing relief effort.”

“Operation Hurricane Relief” will be supported by regional print advertising, as well as customized point-of-sale to make consumers and shoppers aware of the effort.

To date, the Anheuser-Busch Foundation has donated $1.1 million to hurricane relief efforts in Florida. In addition, Anheuser-Busch has donated an additional $450,000 by supplying more than 4.5 million cans of drinking water to aid the victims and rescue workers. "Operation Hurricane Relief" will increase the total support to $2.5 million.

Helping communities cope with natural disasters has been an Anheuser-Busch tradition since 1906 when Adolphus Busch made a donation to victims of the San Francisco earthquake. Today, in addition to providing monetary support, Anheuser-Busch breweries package fresh drinking water and donate it to emergency relief organizations for distribution to those in need. In the past five years, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 40 million cans of water to victims of natural disasters.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of the recent hurricanes and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc. is the leading U.S. brewer and holds a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer. In a survey of 10,000 business leaders and securities analysts, Anheuser-Busch ranked first overall in quality of products and services among nearly 600 companies researched in FORTUNE magazine's 2004 “America's Most Admired Companies” listing. The company also is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the world's largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers.


29 September, 2004