You know them as the king of beers — makers of Budweiser, Michelob, Busch, and Rolling Rock. You know them as the most venerable non-arch-shaped institution St. Louis has to offer. Indeed, if Foster’s is Australian for beer, then Anheuser-Busch is certainly American for beer.
But what else does Anheuser-Busch stand for? The company has been serving up beer for 150 years, from its founding in 1860, to its recent sale to European beverage giant InBev. In the last decade, Anheuser-Busch has given over $370 million to charity, with a focus on the cities around the world in which it has offices, breweries and warehouses.
Anheuser-Busch’s philanthropy efforts focus primarily on education. The brewery’s website features partnerships with three main education charities: Teach for America, the OASIS Inter-generational Tutoring Program (which pairs volunteers over fifty with early elementary students), and the Tom Joyner Foundation, a nonprofit helping high school students move forward to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The beverage giant has also taken impressive steps to make itself eco-friendly. Some might argue that the greening of Anheuser-Busch began in 2007, when they introduced a pair of organic beers, or in 2008 when they pledged to use 15 percent renewable energy by 2010 – meaning over five billion 12 oz servings produced with alternative energy per year. But Anheuser-Busch will tell you that its tradition of conservation began back in 1860, when founder Adolphus Busch started using leftover grain as cattle feed. According to its website, Anheuser-Busch recycles 99 percent of its solid waste, and fittingly – recycles over 27 billion aluminum cans per year.
Anheuser-Busch’s adventure parks, which include the Busch Gardens and SeaWorld parks, also make environmentalism a point by focusing on wildlife rescue and education. Since 1993, the SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Environmental Excellence Awards have been granted to students, teachers, and community groups “who are working at the grassroots level to protect and preserve the environment.” Anheuser-Busch also teams up with National Geographic’s Conservation Trust to dole out annual conservation grants.
If you’re interested in more information on the day-to-day charity efforts of Anheuser-Busch, their website’s community news page reads more like a list of community service events. Recent highlights include donations of 100,000 to the Jewish Foundation of St. Louis and 250,000 to College-Bound, an organization helping underprivileged high school students reach universities.
Lastly, Anheuser-Busch has focused on disaster relief. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, the beverage kings donated over 9 million cans of water – not beer – to disaster relief agencies.
Anheuser-Busch got its start as the Bavarian Brewery, opened by George Schneider in 1852. German immigrant Eberhard Anheuser arrived in St. Louse and purchased the floundering brewery in 1860. Several years later his daughter married Adolphus Busch, and by 1879 to company would come to be known as the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association.
Over the course of the next century as the company began to spread its roots as the world's leading producer of beer across the globe, it also established itself as a reliable philanthropic force. Since the 1800s the King of Beers has been providing disaster relief at home and abroad. From the 1884 Ohio River Flood to WWI to Hurricane Katrina, support has been there.
Highlights
- Since 1988, the company has donated more than 59 million cans of drinking water to aid the victims of hurricanes and natural disasters.
- Since 2000, Anheuser-Busch had donated $370 million to various nonprofits around the world.
- In 2008, the company honored the Employee Match Program with $ 1,011,105 in grants.
What you can do
- At the very least, drink Anheuser-Busch beer and know that you'll be helping to support a variety of good causes.
- Support Teach for America, the Tom Joyner Foundation, or find a local organization that could use your help as a tutor — start at TutorMatch.org
Images courtesy Anheuser-Busch website
