Anheuser-Busch may be best known for the production of American favorites like Bud Light, Shock Top and Michelob Ultra—but this week, the brewing company is halting the production of beer to help the flood victims of Hurricane Harvey.
As part of their emergency water program, the Cartersville, Georgia, location is trading hops to can 155,000 units of water that will be sent to Arlington, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Since it opened in 1993, the Cartersville location has shut down its beer production approximately twice per year to provide drinking water in times of crisis. In the past, they played a critical role in aiding communities ravaged by the California wildfires, Louisiana floods and Hurricane Matthew.
Now, the 250 trucks per day that are normally used to ship beer are acting as emergency vessels to transport clean water to victims affected by Harvey.
“Since 1988 we have donated an excess of 76 million cans of clean drinking water,” said Anheuser-Busch’s VP of Community Affairs, Bill Bradley. “The Cartersville location is our designated brewery for the emergency water program—it’s something we’re very proud of.”
“Putting our production and logistics strengths to work by providing safe, clean drinking water is the best way we can help in these situations,” added brewmaster Sarah Schilling.
Bradley insists that this community contribution would not be possible without their 100-year partnership with the American Red Cross, and the help of Anheuser-Busch’s independent distributors.
“We have an excess of 400 independent distributors throughout the U.S. [that] allow us to do this,” he says. “It would be so much more difficult to do it without them at the local level.”
During times of crisis, it’s pretty amazing to see individuals and organizations alike forgo profits and personal gain to help those in need.
If you’d like to see how you can help, check out organizations that are already on the ground in disaster areas, like the North American Mission Board and the Red Cross. You can also donate money to the Red Cross through iTunes.
