Budweiser’s Johnny Furr Jr. was hunched in a defensive posture on the white sandy beaches of Coco Cay Island in the Bahamas. Armed with a water gun the size of a rocket launcher, Furr was braced for a no-holds-barred water gun war with thousands of other similarly armed cruisers on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage 2010. Furr would later attest, as he did many times during the cruise’s excursion through the Caribbean waters, that this was the ultimate party with a purpose.
Furr and Budweiser, a division of Anheuser-Busch, have long supported Tom Joyner and the Tom Joyner Foundation’s efforts to help more young students fulfill their dreams by attending HBCUs.
“Anheuser-Busch is extremely proud and excited about our commitment to higher education,” said Furr, vice presiden of sales development and community affairs for Anheuser-Busch Inc. “Collaborating with the Tom Joyner Foundation will help us reach millions across the country, to raise awareness about the company’s commitment to education and to fill a niche by providing scholarship dollars for adult students who need finances to start a late college career or to complete a degree.”
For the past 11 years, the Tom Joyner Foundation has used the Fantastic Voyage to raise money to help students attend historically black colleges and universities.
“We’re glad Anheuser-Busch has become a part of the Tom Joyner Foundation to assist our efforts with helping older adults obtain a college degree,” said Joyner. “The Foundation is committed to providing educational opportunities to non-traditional students who may not have been able to go to college when they were younger, or who may have had to put college on hold for financial reasons. Anheuser-Busch’s support reflects not only our mission, but their commitment to giving back to the community.”
By working together, Anheuser-Busch and its community partners and wholesalers raise funds that stay in the local communities to help support students’ efforts to attend college.
Since 1999, the Budweiser Urban Scholarship Program has raised $2 million helping more than 400 urban students attend college.
In addition to the donation to the Tom Joyner Foundation, Anheuser-Busch sponsored the Budweiser Bon Voyage Party in Miami as part of the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise in May. During the cruise, the Budweiser Bid Whist tournament is a variant of the classic card game played in the United States, whist.
–terry shropshire
Caption: Johnny Furr Jr. pictured with former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin
