Anheuser-Busch (AB), St. Louis, and its wholesalers in the state donated $45,000 to help employees of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the wildfires in the state. More than 34,000 acres and 1,500 homes were consumed by the fires, including 98 percent of Bastrop State Park and 22 homes of Texas Park and Wildlife employees. Many more parks employees sustained significant damage to their properties.

AB contributed the first $10,000 and then asked Texas wholesalers to donate as well. The Texas wholesalers that contributed were as follows: Ben E. Keith Distributing, Fort Worth; Brown Distributing, Austin; R & K Distributing, Longview; Falls Distributing, Wichita Falls; Silver Eagle Distributing, Houston and Cypress; Standard Sales Co., Odessa; Del Papa Distributing Co., Galveston; Budweiser Distributing Co., Amarillo; Tri-City Distributing, New Braunfels; Eagle Distributing, Texarkana; and Wismer Distributing Co., Baytown. In addition to case donations, many wholesalers have sponsored fundraisers in their respective markets for numerous relief efforts.

The total donation of $45,000 will go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Employee Relief Fund to help ease the financial burden of those employees affected by the wildfires.

“Our thoughts are with all the families in Texas who were affected by this crisis,” said Henry Dominguez, Anheuser-Busch’s regional vice president in Dallas, in a statement. “Our financial support for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is one way we can help alleviate the burden on families affected by the fires.”

In April and September, AB donated more than 170,000 cans of water for areas of Texas affected by wildfires. A-B Distributing Co. in San Angelo, Ben E. Keith Co., Fall Distributing, Brown Distributing and Silver Eagle Distributors worked with relief organizations to get the water where it was needed.