Anheuser-Busch donates to Folds of Honor during NFL and World Series events

In honor of First Responders Day on Tuesday, Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to the families of first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice, was recognized throughout the sports world over the weekend and at the World Series on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Across 12 NFL games Last weekend alone, Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light presented more than $250,000 to fund academic scholarships for Folds of Honor recipients. An additional $125,000 was awarded on behalf of Budweiser during Game 3 and Game 4 of the Fall Classic.

The donations add to the $33 million already donated by America’s largest brewer since the organization was founded in 2007 by Lt. Col. Dan Rooney.

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Folds of Honor is recognized at the Houston Texans game on October 26, 2025. (Bud Light/Fox News)

“We are very blessed. Anheuser-Busch takes us places we couldn’t go alone. We call it the force multiplier effect,” Rooney said in a recent interview with FOX Business. “They’ve donated $33 million and helped us fund 6,600 scholarships, but I would say an equally important part of the relationship is the places we can travel as their partner. The World Series, the NFL, is a huge blessing.

“Folds is one of those things, when you hear it, the answer is ‘yes,’ but it’s a real challenge to get the message out there. So to see it come to life, to face sacrifice with hope in so many different ways, don’t underestimate the power of bringing people together. Because in this world, where everything seems to have to be a red or blue thing, we teamed up with Anheuser-Busch, and it’s red, white, and blue. It’s about military and first responders, and regardless of where you fit on the spectrum politically, the vast majority of America gathers in those places.

Plus a scholarship, Folds of Honor, Bud Light and the Pittsburgh Steelers donated Super Bowl tickets to Giacinta Cassa Salandro-Zilli, who lost her father, a deputy police chief, in 2016, before the Steelers’ Sunday night win against the Green Bay Packers.

Anheuser-Busch added to the $33 million they have already donated to the organization. (Bud Light/Fox News)

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“Sports are where we all come together. Even though we are divided, we are on one side of one team or another, but we come together,” Rooney said. “I always tell people to sit quietly after the national anthem. There is a beautiful place where our name still stands. We are the United States of America. When you go to those places, sports are more than ever an escape. You don’t have to worry about the other things that happen for three hours: you support your team, you drink a cold Bud Light and you have permission to step away from the ever-present responsibilities we all have and the things that are out of our control.”

The organization has been a resounding success, but Rooney believes there is always more work to do.

“I always hope that when we show up, it just reminds people that freedom is not free, that every six seconds, 911 is called in this country, and we have a group of people running to rescue us, and that creates this moment of unity,” Rooney said. “Thank God we have our military and first responders, because our country would look very different, and they are the basis of all the freedoms we enjoy in this country.

Folds of Honor is recognized at the Houston Texans game on October 26, 2025. (Bud Light/Fox News)

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It’s just this beautiful reminder to come together. And in a time of reverence for these traditional American values, it’s great to see them come to life through Budweiser and Bud Light, because they don’t have to bring Folds of Honor to these places, but it’s a great credit to who they are. They are really good people and use their platform to do good. “My 18 years of this, life is about serving others, and if we all did a little bit of that, what a better place it would be.”