Southern Baptists say Anheuser-Busch water controversy misrepresented

Nov 10, 2005
JENNIFER DAVIS RASH & JONI B. HANNIGAN

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CLEWISTON (BP/FBW)–No thirsty person went without water, and no water went to waste, according to Tim Bridges, pastor of First Baptist Church in Clewiston.

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Water supplied to the Red Cross in disaster relief efforts by Anheuser-Busch is prominently marked with the beverage company’s distinctive logo and distributed in cans like the one shown here. Courtesy photo

This fact is true, despite Clewiston–area media reports that claimed differently when a shipment of water, distributed by Anheuser–Busch, caused confusion Oct. 28. This fact also remains in spite of the growing number of Web bloggers distributing inaccurate information following the initial news reports.

Keith Hinson, public relations associate for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said, “It is an absolute falsehood to suggest – as many irresponsible bloggers have – that the Baptist volunteers withheld the basic needs of life from Floridians impacted by the hurricane. Contrary to misinterpretations of news reports, no one was denied access to water.”

Alabama Baptist disaster relief volunteers set up a feeding unit at a parking lot in Clewiston Oct. 26 following Hurricane Wilma’s swipe across Florida Oct. 24.

From the site, meals are cooked and distributed in the community by the Red Cross or through feeding lines.

Bottles of water are not necessarily a guarantee at these sites, said Vernon Lee, who was in charge of the feeding unit Oct. 29–Nov. 3. “We don’t hand out commodities like ice, water, etc.,” said Lee, a member of White Springs Baptist Church, Rainbow City, in Etowah Baptist Association. “We just cook.”

But if water is available, then the volunteers give it out, he noted.

Loyd Kindiger, who was in charge of the unit Oct. 28, told Florida Baptist Witness in Clewiston that NBC reporters “milling around” the edges of the cordoned–off relief site overheard a conversation between him and Bridges about the location of the Anheuser–Busch cans of water and seemed bent on misconstruing the pastor’s request to distribute the A–B water elsewhere as inappropriate.

“We had plenty of water of our own and so it wasn’t even an issue to us,” Kindiger told the Witness, pointing to several large pallets holding cases of Crystal Geyser water next to where food was being distributed from a tent beside a drive–thru distribution point.

When the Anheuser–Busch truck arrived, the Red Cross officials allowed the water to be unloaded even though the area was not designated as a distribution site, Lee explained. Typically, water and ice are distributed together.

Volunteers from First Baptist Church in Clewiston work with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief workers from Alabama to cook and distribute food from a parking lot Oct. 28 after Hurricane Wilma left residents without electricity since Oct. 24. The Clewiston volunteers are (l-r)Jim Wilkinson, Jonathan Brooks (Minister of youth and education), Brenda Lopez, and Dot Stacy. Photo by Eva Wolever

A Red Cross volunteer told the Witness Oct. 28 he believed the pastor’s request was reasonable and said he assured the NBC television crew earlier that day that the Southern Baptist volunteers had plenty of their own water, making it a non–issue.

Volunteers cooking and handing out food were a mixture of Alabama Baptists, members of First Baptist Church in Clewiston, and Red Cross volunteers.

Water supplied to the Red Cross in disaster relief efforts by Anheuser–Busch is prominently marked with the beverage company’s distinctive logo and distributed in cans (like the one shown on page 1).

The Anheuser–Busch logo on the cans of water “was huge” and bothersome to some of the volunteers from First Baptist Church in Clewiston, Bridges said. “I didn’t want to send out a mixed message.”

According to information from the Anheuser–Busch foundation website, the company only recently began canning water for relief agencies following last year’s historic hurricane season when four devastating storms impacted the southeast United States. Though the cans are labeled “not for sale,” the A–B logo is prominently displayed.

“All that was said was that First Baptist Church (Clewiston) people would not be the ones handing it out,” Bridges explained. “We didn’t refuse the water. Others were giving it out.

“We were handing out water (supplied by Southern Baptists) hand over fist,” Bridges said.

He noted that Wal–Mart across the street had water, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was set up next to Wal–Mart with water to give away and the city’s civic center nearby was distributing ice and water. So, even if the water at First, Clewiston, had run out, people were still not going without water.

At an Alabama Disaster Relief feeding unit in Clewiston, Carl Scivicque from First Baptist Church, Bay Minette, Ala., pours onion flakes to season chili while his fellow church member, John C. Taylor, stirs. Photo by Eva Wolever

But the non–Anheuser–Busch water did not run out, Lee said. “I would have no problem giving the people the (Anheuser–Busch water) if they were thirsty, but they were not thirsty.” In fact, he said the original supply of water (including the Anheuser–Busch water) lasted through the morning of Nov. 2.

“There was water for them to take … and the opportunity to get (the Anheuser–Busch) water if they wanted it because it was made available,” Lee said, noting he thinks most people prefer bottled water to canned water anyway.

Both Lee and Bridges emphasized that no one went without water and it is unfortunate that the local media misunderstood the facts.

“We are preparing upwards of 12,000 meals a day,” Lee said. “The city is tickled to death to have us here. We have received cards and letters from people, who come through the line, thanking us.

“It is sad for us to take a black eye over something that was silly,” he said. “But if the First Baptist Church (Clewiston) and the people in this town are happy, then we’ve done our job.”

“All of our folks have worked as hard as they could,” Bridges added. “It was an awkward moment as we were getting set up and the Busch water came into the picture.”

But to clarify all the inaccurate reports, “there was plenty of water available,” Bridges emphasized, and “no one was turned away.”

[Jennifer Davis Rash is the managing editor of The Alabama Baptist newsjournal and Joni B. Hannigan, is managing editor of Florida Baptist Witness.]

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