Fifty thousand cans of drinking water earmarked for the region battered by Hurricane Harvey are en route to Texas where they’ll be distributed to the American Red Cross for disaster relief.
MillerCoors, can-maker Ball Corp. and carton-maker Graphic Packaging International have teamed up to send the emergency drinking water to Revolver, a MillerCoors brewery about 275 miles northwest of Houston, which will use its fleet of delivery trucks to ferry the water to Red Cross outposts in southeastern Texas, the region hardest hit by the storm. The water will be used at Red Cross shelters and distributed by volunteers.
MillerCoors, which also operates a brewery in Fort Worth, is donating at least $25,000 to the Red Cross to assist with disaster-relief efforts associated with Hurricane Harvey.
The remnants of the hurricane continued to deluge the Texas Gulf Coast with heavy rains over the weekend and into Monday, dropping more than two feet of precipitation in some areas, resulting in historic flooding in Houston and contributing to at least six deaths, according to the Houston Chronicle. The National Hurricane Center is predicting up to 25 more inches of rain for certain parts of the region throughout the week.
Floods and other natural disasters can damage and contaminate drinking water sources, creating a need for clean water.
“Providing clean water to communities enduring a crisis will aid in recovery and hopefully give some sense of comfort to those in need,” said Karina Diehl, MillerCoors’ director of community affairs, in a statement.
MillerCoors launched its water program this summer in partnership with Broomfield, Colo.-based Ball, which together have committed to providing more than 2 million cans to the Red Cross to help communities affected by disasters over the next three years. The water is canned at the MillerCoors brewery in Trenton, Ohio, and stored in its Shenandoah, Va., brewery. Graphic Packaging International donated the 12-pack cartons in which the cans are packaged.
The three companies also donated 50,000 cans of water to parts of western Wisconsin and northern Illinois earlier this summer to help flood victims.
Other breweries also are pitching in to the disaster relief effort.
Anheuser Busch-InBev said today that its Cartersville, Ga., brewery sent more than 50,000 cans of water to the Red Cross in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday and dispatched today more than 100,000 additional cans to the agency in Arlington, Texas, in the aftermath of the storm. The company operates two breweries and a bottling facility in Houston.
And Blackwater Draw Brewing Company said on its Facebook page that it is making available 600 gallons of clean water to anyone who comes to its Bryan, Texas, or College Station, Texas, breweries with a container.