Anheuser-Busch, Local Distributors Donate $26,500 to Help Fight Drunk Driving in Washington-Metropolitan Area
Contribution Helps Fund Holiday SoberRide ® Program
MCLEAN, VA (Dec. 11, 2009) - Anheuser-Busch and its Washington, D.C., area distributors donated $26,500 to the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), a nonprofit Washington-metropolitan alcohol-education group, as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to help prevent drunk driving and underage drinking.
The contribution, presented at WRAP’s 12th-annual Law Enforcement Awards & Holiday Campaign Kick-Off, helps support the SoberRide program that offers free cab-ride services to adults who may have had too much to drink. For two decades, Anheuser-Busch and its five wholesalers in the Washington, D.C., area (Bob Hall Distributors, Capital Eagle, Guiffre Distributing, J.F. Fick Distributing and Montgomery Eagle) have supported WRAP and its various community-based alcohol awareness and education programs.
“At Anheuser-Busch, we are dedicated to giving back to our communities and are proud to be at the forefront of efforts to prevent all forms of alcohol abuse,” said Kathy Casso, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility. “Working together through community-based programs, such as WRAP’s SoberRide truly makes a difference in helping prevent drunk driving.”
Since 1993 alone, SoberRide has provided 44,635 free cab rides home to area residents and helped keep potential drunk drivers off the road.
“Anheuser-Busch has long been an integral partner in WRAP’s winning efforts to fight drunk driving and underage drinking in the Washington-metropolitan area,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, WRAP’s president. “We are delighted to have their support, especially during the holidays when encouraging the use of designated drivers via programs like SoberRide is so vitally important.”
Anheuser-Busch’s donation was presented to WRAP at the charity’s kick-off of its holiday SoberRide cab ride service. Each evening from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. between Dec. 11, 2009 and Jan. 1, 2010, area residents celebrating with alcohol who feel they need a taxi may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1–800–200–TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to a $50 fare), safe ride home. AT&T wireless customers can call #-TAXI for the same service.
SoberRide is offered in the: District of Columbia; throughout the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s; and throughout the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, (eastern) Loudoun and Prince William. In these areas, local taxicab companies will be providing this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.
About WRAP
Founded in 1982, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is an award-winning public-private partnership
working to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking in the Washington-metro area. Through public education, innovative
health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with keeping the metro-Washington area’s alcohol-related
traffic deaths consistently lower than the national average. For more information, visit www.wrap.org.
Members of the media can contact the Anheuser-Busch Corporate Social Responsibility Office via the Anheuser-Busch Customer Call Center.