There’s nothing quite so bracing as an ice cold Coca-Cola on a warm day, especially if you’re in a muster team competition, pulling an old-fashioned hose cart down a street. Thankfully for the muster team members and others in attendance at the annual Hope for Firefighters event, Coca-Cola Enterprises provides an array of drinks in the company’s role as exclusive Beverage Sponsor.
Coca-Cola Enterprises provides beverages for all the booths — everything from Cokes and Diet Cokes to Honest Tea and Dasani water. Firemen’s Relief Development & Marketing Director Marlene Casillas said, “As one of America’s most admired companies, the Coca-Cola brand embodies the true spirit of this fundraising event. Our firefighters are honored to have Coca-Cola as one of the charity’s biggest supporters and greatly appreciate the wonderful contribution. The company’s leaders not only donate beverages, they also send employees to compete in the Muster Games portion of the event. They are fun and hands on.”
Different from Coca-Cola Enterprises, the Coca-Cola Company supplies drinks for the annual Lane Kemper Softball Classic. Understanding how the two companies work together is as simple as making a Cherry Coke.
In 1899, two Chattanooga businessmen secured exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola for most of the United States. Recognizing the need to create a bottler network, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, with the support of Chattanooga businessman John T. Lupton, began granting other entrepreneurs bottling franchise rights. The company grew over the many decades, navigating different business and financial climates. Today, Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world’s third largest marketer, producer and distributor of products of The Coca-Cola Company, which develops products, produces related marketing and advertising programs, and sells syrup concentrate to Coca-Cola Enterprises and other bottlers.
The Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Association appreciates the generosity of both Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Coca-Cola Company leaders and for their continuing support of these events, both of which benefit the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund. The example they set and the contributions they make to help the firefighting community are quite refreshing indeed. For more information about these companies, visit www.cokecce.com or www.thecoca-colacompany.com.