JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (May 24, 2006) – For the 22nd consecutive year, local students will have an opportunity to earn money this summer while providing an array of community services to improve the quality of life for area residents through Operation Brightside.

Each summer, the “Green Team” takes on a six-week project conducted by the Jacksonville Urban League with support from the Anheuser-Busch Jacksonville brewery. The project provides jobs for youths from low- to moderate-level income families.

By joining the Anheuser-Busch Operation Brightside team, they are improving the quality of life for area residents, advancing their education and earning money while they’re doing it. One of the core priorities of the Green Team program is to teach job skills to the participants.

“Operation Brightside gives these students a sense of volunteerism and humanitarianism that will be instilled in them for a lifetime. It shows the participants and others around them that there is joy in helping others,” said Syl Robinson, plant manager for the Jacksonville brewery. “Equally if not more important, however, are the job skills the participants learn. On the Green Team, they are taught the importance of getting along with co-workers, being punctual and seeing a job through to completion.”

According to Richard Danford, Ph.D., Jacksonville area Urban League president, the Anheuser-Busch Jacksonville brewery has supported the Urban League since 1984.

“Like Anheuser-Busch, the Urban League has a long, proud tradition of serving the community, and we’re pleased to be part of Operation Brightside,” said Danford. “The Operation Brightside program enables participants to fulfill self-proposed missions of giving back to their respective communities and finding solutions to community needs.”



Green Team Lends Hand to Jacksonville Community


To be selected for the Green Team, each student must complete a written application and interview, submit a copy of their transcript or report card, write a 250-word essay and must have personal recommendations from their school or respected members of their communities.

Team members must be at least 16 year of age. They will be paid $6.15 per hour and work six hours a day Monday through Friday for six weeks, beginning June 26, 2006. The Green Team activity ends Aug. 4, 2006, with a commemorative luncheon and a career day that helps team members learn how to prepare a resume and search for a job.

This year, Anheuser-Busch will contribute almost $500,000 to sponsor Green Team programs in the cities in which it operates breweries. The company also has sponsored Green Teams at summer and winter Olympic competitions, entertainment events and major sports events, including the 2006 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.

Anheuser-Busch has operated with care and concern for the environment and precious natural resources for more than 100 years, dating to 1899 when the company first recycled used brewers grain to feed cattle. Today, Anheuser-Busch is one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum beverage containers, reclaiming more than 100 percent of the aluminum used by the company to package beer.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.8 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, and a 27 percent share in Tsingtao, the No. 1 brewer in China. Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 among beverage companies in FORTUNE Magazine’s Most Admired U.S. and Global Companies lists in 2006.

Anheuser Busch is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is America’s top recycler of aluminum cans. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com


PHOTO AVAILABLE: To request an electronic image, please contact Jill Phelan at 314-577-4746
or jill.phelan@anheuser-busch.com