Driving Solutions for
Our Neighbors and Communities

These are some of the highlights of the many ways in which we are here for you during trying times.

In extraordinary times, America’s beverage companies and employees are

Our digital campaign reached

16.5 million people nationally, garnering

65+million impressions.

Our industry has a longstanding legacy of stepping up in times of crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic elevated this commitment to a new level. Like so many other industries, beverage companies and workers went above and beyond to get basic goods to market, all while supporting our communities. The beverage industry was in fact designated as part of the critical infrastructure of the nation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), with employees deemed essential workers. This designation provided crucial guidance for our industry to coordinate with state and local governments and ensure the continuity of our business operations to meet consumer demand. Our #HereForYou campaign recognizes their tremendous individual and collective efforts.

Supporting Communities in Need

In addition to restocking shelves daily, beverage companies donated millions of dollars in supplies and financial support to healthcare workers and vulnerable communities. Boys & Girls Clubs of America received a $5 million donation from The Coca-Cola Foundation to assist youth and communities. Through its “Fueling the Frontline” program, Keurig Dr Pepper donated over 4 million beverages to more than 500 hospitals across the country. The PepsiCo Foundation launched a $7 million initiative to aid the nation’s hardest-hit metro areas.

HOMETOWN HEROES

Alex Didyoung at Buffalo Rock Pepsi in Birmingham, Ala., came up with the idea of using the company’s truck backs to display “thank you” messages for first responders.

Swire Coca-Cola’s Heather Curtis helped coordinate the donation of 330 cases of beverages to first responders, food banks, community outreach groups and hospitals across Washington state.

As a truck driver for the National Guard, Refresco’s David Carmack was deployed to help deliver more than 2,000 meals to children in towns across Missouri.

Keurig Dr Pepper’s Jacob Roberts thanked those on the front lines in Louisville, Ky., by bringing breakfast to his colleagues and others who were making sure Americans had essential items.

ABA Board Member and Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast’s Mark Francoeur (right) delivers tablets to the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester’s Richard Zamoida (left).Helping Our Nation’s Schools

When schools were forced to shut down, local beverage companies worked to protect the health and education of children. Pepsi Cola Bottling of Decatur, Ala., donated funds to help rural schools in its area bolster their online technology and fund school supplies and meals. Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast donated tablets to New Hampshire’s Bedford School District and the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester. And in Des Moines, Iowa, Keurig Dr Pepper donated cases of 100% juice to the local public school district to be included in lunches provided to children and families in need.

Healthcare workers at Parkland Hospital in Dallas stand in line at a mobile Keurig Dr Pepper truck for free hot and cold beverages.Innovating Safety and Supplies

Beverage industry employees have shown remarkable dedication and ingenuity in finding ways to aid their neighbors, such as creating and distributing masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Coca-Cola Consolidated worked with Southeastern Container, a bottle manufacturing co-operative, to make tubes for COVID-19 test kits—ultimately shipping moreSodaStream© employees stand with supporting medical staff at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem as they test their ventilator alternative, the StreamO2. than 9 million tubes across the country. SodaStream©, owned by PepsiCo, collaborated with medical professionals to use its technology to develop a less expensive and less invasive ventilator alternative to help those battling the virus. Polar Beverages, a family owned and operated beverage company out of Worcester, Mass., fashioned hundreds of face shields out of unused 2-liter plastic bottles for use by frontline workers at the local medical center.

Polar Beverages’ John Stimpson (left) and son Chris Stimpson (right) make face shields out of plastic beverage bottles at their dining room table.Meeting Consumer Demand

Truckers are playing a vital role in the supply chain to get America through the COVID-19 emergency. We engaged with Capitol Hill as part of various coalitions to ensure the trucking industry could operate with greater flexibility to deliver inventory. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recognized that the increased consumer demand for products in grocery stores necessitated an emergency suspension of restrictions on truckers’ service hours. In addition, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act included language that allowed state departments of transportation to grant temporary overweight permits for trucks.

Assisting Disaster Relief

The beverage industry has a long history of stepping up during natural disasters to support fellow Americans. Our companies and employees have donated thousands of bottles of water and hours of volunteer time, as well as millions of dollars in funds, to support our nation’s first responders and local communities amid relief and recovery phases for wildfires, hurricanes and floods.

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Helping Our Nation’s Schools

When schools were forced to shut down, local beverage companies worked to protect the health and education of children. Pepsi Cola Bottling of Decatur, Ala., donated funds to help rural schools in its area bolster their online technology and fund school supplies and meals. Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast donated tablets to New Hampshire’s Bedford School District and the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester. And in Des Moines, Iowa, Keurig Dr Pepper donated cases of 100% juice to the local public school district to be included in lunches provided to children and families in need.

Innovating Safety and Supplies

Beverage industry employees have shown remarkable dedication and ingenuity in finding ways to aid their neighbors, such as creating and distributing masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Coca-Cola Consolidated worked with Southeastern Container, a bottle manufacturing co-operative, to make tubes for COVID-19 test kits—ultimately shipping more than 9 million tubes across the country. SodaStream©, owned by PepsiCo, collaborated with medical professionals to use its technology to develop a less expensive and less invasive ventilator alternative to help those battling the virus. Polar Beverages, a family owned and operated beverage company out of Worcester, Mass., fashioned hundreds of face shields out of unused 2-liter plastic bottles for use by frontline workers at the local medical center.

Meeting Consumer Demand

Truckers are playing a vital role in the supply chain to get America through the COVID-19 emergency. We engaged with Capitol Hill as part of various coalitions to ensure the trucking industry could operate with greater flexibility to deliver inventory. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recognized that the increased consumer demand for products in grocery stores necessitated an emergency suspension of restrictions on truckers’ service hours. In addition, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act included language that allowed state departments of transportation to grant temporary overweight permits for trucks.