Anheuser-Busch Donates Money as Local Brewery Workers Donate Time to Help Dream Come True for Jacksonville Family

Workers Celebrate 11th Anniversary of Partnering with HabiJax to Build Home

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Feb 25, 2010, 03:07 ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Workers at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Jacksonville hold many different jobs to produce America's best-selling beers: brewers, bottlers, quality analysts and safety specialists, to name a few. Starting this weekend, they will have a new title to boast about: "volunteer homebuilder."

During the next five weeks, dozens of volunteers from the brewery will build a residential home for a local family in Duval County through HabiJax, the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

"Anheuser-Busch has been a longtime supporter of HabiJax," said Mary Kay O'Rourke, President & CEO of HabiJax. "We are grateful not only for their financial support, but also for the enthusiasm their employees display through volunteering, ultimately making the joy of homeownership a reality for the families they work along with on the worksite."

"Our employees have enthusiastically supported this effort throughout the last decade," said Steve Foppe, general manager of the brewery. "This year marks the 11th home our brewery employees have helped to build. Last year, Anheuser-Busch employees in Jacksonville contributed in excess of 400 hours, totally voluntary, on the home we sponsored."

Volunteers also have the benefit of working side-by-side with the future homeowner and her 14-year-old daughter. The pair visited the Jacksonville brewery on Feb. 9 to let workers know how much their efforts are appreciated. At that time Pam Vause, the A-B employee coordinating the brewery's volunteer effort, presented HabiJax officials with a check for $65,000 from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation. Since 1999, Anheuser-Busch has contributed a total of nearly $600,000 to HabiJax.

Construction begins Saturday, Feb. 27, with the volunteers helping with framing. In subsequent weeks, volunteers will work on windows, siding, interior and exterior painting, and landscaping. The family's new home, in a community called Paris Villages, is scheduled for completion this spring.

HabiJax builds and renovates affordable houses in the Jacksonville urban core, concentrating in neighborhoods targeted by the City of Jacksonville for revitalization.

"HabiJax is one of the top performers in the Habitat for Humanity effort nationally," Foppe said. "Most of their support comes from companies such as ours in the form of dollars and/or volunteering."

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 49.2 percent share of U.S. beer sales. The company brews the world's largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer. Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 among beverage companies in FORTUNE Magazine's Most Admired Global Companies list in 2009. Anheuser-Busch is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and one of the world's largest recyclers of aluminum cans. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer, and continues to operate under the Anheuser-Busch name and logo. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch