Anheuser-Busch Sending Nine Truckloads of Emergency Drinking Water for Hurricane Matthew Relief

Anheuser-Busch is sending nine truckloads –  more than 450,000 cans – of emergency canned drinking water to Florida to help local communities prepare for the expected impacts of Hurricane Matthew.

The delivery is in response to requests from local wholesalers and the American Red Cross, which is preparing to open as many as 100 evacuation shelters in the US after Hurricane Matthew caused severe flooding and storm surges in Haiti.

Emergency water deliveries are headed for communities including Deerfield Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Melbourne and Daytona Beach in Florida.

The water will be transported from Anheuser-Busch's Cartersville Brewery, GA, which periodically pauses production to can drinking water so as to be ready to help communities in times of disaster.

“We are humbled to be able to help out our neighbors in urgent times like this,” said Craig Tomeo, Senior General Manager of Anheuser-Busch's Jacksonville Brewery. “Putting our production and logistics strengths to work by providing safe, clean drinking water is the best way we can help right now.”

Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding tradition of providing water and supplies to those affected by natural disasters nationwide. Prior to this donation for Hurricane Matthew, Anheuser-Busch has already donated over 1 million cans of emergency drinking water this year alone, including for severe flooding in Louisiana this summer.

In addition, the company contributed $1 million in 2016 as a member of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program and is a longtime partner of the organization's blood donor program, receiving its Biomedical Partnership Award in 2015.