Busch donates 490 cases of water

Water Distributors and WholeSalers Anheuser-Busch has provided 490 cases — approximately 11,760 cans of drinking water — to Arkansas residents in response to destruction brought on by recent tornadoes.“It’s important for communities to pull together and lend a helping hand and Anheuser-Busch is proud to provide drinking water to these people in need,” said Peter Kraemer, vice president of operations for Anheuser-Busch. “Our company has a long and valued relationship with our friends in Arkansas, so we felt this is one way we could assist the region in its time of need.”The water arrived Wednesday morning at local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler Ludwig Distributing Company, located at 503 E. 13th St., and will be available at the old fire station in downtown Stuttgart. Ludwig Distributing is working with the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to distribute the water to area residents.Norma Strabala, director of RSVP, who is manning the station, has been on hand to give out the supplies all week.She said she appreciates the work of volunteers to help get the supplies out to the public and greatly accepts the donations.“Anheuser-Busch is in a unique position to provide water to those in need. Few corporations have the infrastructure to package beverages and distribute them quickly to local wholesalers,” Kraemer said. “When a natural disaster strikes, very simply put, we have a responsibility to package and provide water to our neighbors, and we’re proud to do so.”Helping communities cope with natural disasters has been an Anheuser-Busch tradition since 1906 when Adolphus Busch made a donation to victims of the San Francisco earthquake.Today, in addition to providing monetary support, Anheuser-Busch packages fresh drinking water and donates it to emergency relief organizations for distribution to those in need.In 2007, Anheuser-Busch and its distributors provided a total of 88,298 cases — more than 2.1 million cans — of packaged drinking water to victims of natural disasters.These included ice storms in Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa, tornadoes in Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, wildfires in California, Florida and Georgia and flooding in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas and Kansas.Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 63.5 million cans of drinking water following natural disasters.