Anheuser-Busch donating drinking water, plus $100K, to help Sandy victims

ST. LOUIS — Anheuser-Busch is sending its support to those affected by Hurricane Sandy in the form of 44,000 cases — 1,056,000 cans — of emergency drinking water and a generous monetary donation to the American Red Cross.



The brewing company has already shipped 4,000 cases to two New Jersey distributors — Harrison Beverage in Pleasantville, N.J., and Ritchie & Page Distributing in Robbinsville, N.J. — that should be available to the American Red Cross and other local disaster relief organizations today. Another 10,000 will be delivered to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn over the weekend.



"Relief workers and people in the region are in need of safe, clean drinking water, and Anheuser-Busch is in a unique position to produce and ship large quantities of emergency drinking water," said Peter Kraemer, VP supply for Anheuser-Busch. "Our local distributors help identify those communities most in need and work with relief organizations, such as the American Red Cross, to make sure the water gets where it's needed."



In addition to the water donation, Anheuser-Busch also is donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross to go toward on-the-ground support for disaster relief workers and victims of Hurricane Sandy.



Anheuser-Busch has a history of assisting communities after such disasters as Sandy. In 1906, the company donated to victims of the San Francisco earthquake, and it's donated more than 71 million cans of emergency drinking water since 1988. Additionally, the company is the founding sponsor — through a $2.1 million grant — of the American Red Cross Rating Program, which prepares businesses, schools and organizations for disasters and familiarizes them with effective safety measures.