China & USA: Anheuser-Busch gives $1.6 million for China earthquake relief

Anheuser-Busch announced that it is donating $500,000 to the Chinese Red Cross to be used in relief efforts following the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck the Sichuan province in Central China on Monday, St. Louis Business Journal published May 15.

The company said it also will provide more than $1.1 million, or 425,000 cases, of fresh drinking water to the area. Shipment of the donated bottled water, from Wuhan, will start immediately, A-B said in a release, and will be distributed to residents throughout the five hardest hit counties in the Sichuan province: MianYang, DeYang, GuangYua, DuJiangYan and PengZhou.

The water distribution area includes Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan and the site of an Anheuser-Busch regional sales office that employs more than 50 people.

"The impact of the earthquake has been felt around the world and affected people within our own Anheuser-Busch family," YR Cheng, president of Anheuser-Busch China, said in a statement. "In this time of need, it's important for communities to pull together and corporations to lend a helping hand in any way possible. For Anheuser-Busch, providing this assistance was the right thing to do."

A-B said it has donated nearly 75 million cans of drinking water following natural disasters around the world since 1988.

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., through its Anheuser-Busch Inc. subsidiary, is the leading domestic brewer, holding a 48.5 percent share of U.S. beer sales. The company also manufactures and recycles aluminium cans and operates theme parks.

20 May, 2008