Beer Industry Responds to Hurricane Sandy

WASHINGTON, DC – Major beer brewers and importers have been sending much needed relief to families in communities recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy with a mix of donations and direct contributions of drinking water, the Beer Institute said today.

“There is no question that the families and businesses whose homes and jobs were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandy are going to need all the help they can get to rebuild. America’s brewers and importers, and their employees and business partners, are pitching in to do what they can to lend a hand,” said Joe McClain, President of the Beer Institute, the trade association that represents beer brewers and importers.

Below are examples of relief support from brewers and importers:

· Anheuser-Busch produced more than one million cans of emergency drinking water for delivery to residents who were left without clean drinking water after the storm struck municipal water supplies. That’s more than 44,000 cases of water.

·Both MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch gave separate donations of $100,000 apiece to the American Red Cross for relief efforts.

· Crown Imports and HEINEKEN USA established company matching programs for all employees’ relief donations to the American Red Cross, two-to-one and five-to-one, respectively.

· Crown Imports organized a company-wide blood drive, including more than 2,000 non-Crown employees that share office space at Crown’s Chicago corporate headquarters.

· MillerCoors also set up a microsite designed to encourage employee and distributor donations to the American Red Cross, raising more than $20,000 to date.

· Additionally, HEINEKEN USA led an effort on the ground to bring urgently needed supplies, like blankets, food and water, to the hardest hit communities.

“We know the road to recovery will be a long and difficult one,” said McClain. “We hope these donations have brought some relief to those who need it.”

The Beer Institute, established in 1986, is the national trade association for the brewing industry, representing both large and small brewers, as well as importers and industry suppliers. The Institute is committed to the development of sound public policy and to the values of civic duty and personal responsibility:www.beerinstitute.org.