WILLIAMSBURG For 25 years, dozens of low-income teens have gotten paid to repair homes and properties for disabled and older residents in the Williamsburg area.

The six-week Green Team program is paid for by Anheuser-Busch Cos.

The iconic American brewer has a long history of philanthropic giving -- both nationally and in the Williamsburg area, where it operates a plant, two theme parks and a resort.

But the future of that benevolence is up in the air with last week's announcement of a takeover by Belgian brewing giant InBev SA.

"I don't want to see this great company lose their passion for community," said Reba Bolden, executive director of the Williamsburg/James City County Community Action Agency, which runs the Green Team program. "I worry a little bit."

Other program administrators and charitable groups also are anxious about the level of community support the new owners will offer after the deal closes at the end of the year.

"None of us knows what is going to happen now," said Richard Schreiber, president of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance. The Anheuser-Busch presence "is immensely important, and we now have to consider that that involvement will not be here in the future."

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The charitable arm of the brewing company gives nationally, though with a focus on communities where it has breweries and other properties.

The Anheuser-Busch Foundation had more than $40.8 million in assets in 2006 and awarded grants of nearly $11 million, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service filings.

Those figures do not include direct gifts from Anheuser-Busch and its subsidiaries not made through the foundation. For instance, the company gave $1.06 million to Virginia charities in 2007.

In the Williamsburg area, the company owns Anheuser-Busch brewery, the Kingsmill Resort & Spa, and the Busch Gardens Europe and Water Country USA theme parks. While InBev has said it will retain Anheuser-Busch's breweries, unspecified "noncore assets" could be sold.

The U.S. brewer's charitable donations to programs and organizations in Virginia over the years have been large and small.

"I know they have been very generous to the city and the county," said Diana Dean, co-owner of Taste Tea Salon and Gifts in Williamsburg. "There is a concern that the community will lose that support."

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Money or gifts have gone to colleges, civic groups, animal-preservation organizations and governments. The 60-acre parcelfor the James City County office complex was donated by Anheuser-Busch in the late 1960s when the company first came to town, county Administrator Sanford B. Wanner said.

The United Way of Greater Williamsburg lists the company as one of only two businesses that donated more than $100,000 to the charity in 2007. At least five colleges in Virginia in 2006 received grants of between $4,000 and $25,000 from the foundation, according to IRS records.

The Green Team is one of several youth initiatives Anheuser-Busch has financed in the Williamsburg area. Nine teens are paid $9 an hour and attend a career day sponsored by the brewing company.

Anheuser-Busch covers the $32,000 cost. The full-time summer jobs give the teens work experience and help keep the community looking sharp.

The teens often are surprised to learn that program is funded by a corporation. "Some have said to me they did not know corporations cared," Bolden said. "They thought it was all about the money."

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InBev said it expects to maintain financial support for many community and social programs that Anheuser-Busch has supported, but it has not said what will be funded or at what levels.

"InBev takes very seriously its responsibility of being a good corporate citizen," company spokeswoman Nina Devlin said. "We look forward to combining efforts with Anheuser-Busch."

InBev company literature also cites a commitment to philanthropy, especially in the areas where it operates.

The Belgian brewer, which has 200 brands in more than 130 countries, has donated money to disaster-relief efforts and to assist with childhood education and community initiatives. For instance, since the Sichuan earthquake in China in May, InBev has donated the equivalent of nearly $294,000.

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Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser and Bud Light brands are American staples. Yet the idea that the iconic company with its eagle logo will no longer be American-owned is unsettling to some Williamsburg residents.

"There should be some things that are not up for negotiation," said Tom Trimble, owner of The Trimble Collection art gallery in Williamsburg. "It's like selling the Liberty Bell."

Trimble's concern may point to a further philanthropic problem: Many programs and events Anheuser-Busch has funded have a distinctly American edge.

Busch Garden Europe has a 1-acre preserve set aside for American bald eagles. For years, the company has sponsored a field school that brings in archeologists and graduate students to dig for artifacts at Historic Jamestowne,[lbr: cq: ] said Mary Ellen Stumpf, director of development for Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. It runs the site of the first permanent English settlement in America in partnership with National Park Service.

Stumpf is unsure if that commitment will be maintained by InBev. "We need to figure out if that change will disrupt the ongoing sponsorship," she said.

Anheuser-Busch also donated $1.75 million and $500,000 in marketing support for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown.

"Anheuser-Busch and its employees feel a special connection to this epic event in American history," Donnie Mills,[lbr: cq: ] the former general manager of the local theme parks, said in a statement in late 2006.

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With a foreign company taking over, the allegiance to or understanding of American culture may not happen, said Jeffrey Krug,[lbr: cq: ] an associate professor of strategic management at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research focuses on mergers and acquisitions.

He said cultural difference may be a factor. "My question is, would the Belgians have an understanding of the bald eagle," Krug said. "In all likelihood, [they] will not understand or appreciate the things Anheuser-Busch does locally and in the United States."

The company began in 1852, with the Busch family joining by marriage in 1864. Once the InBev deal is completed, it will mark the first time in generations that a Busch family member will not have a top executive role in the company.

Anheuser-Busch President and Chief Executive August A. Busch IV -- he keeps a home in Kingsmill, and locals call him Auggie -- will vacate his spot at the top of the company but will take a seat on the board of directors of the combined company.

"What that signifies to me is the old Busch family is not going to have a lot of influence over this company," Krug said.
Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or edooley@timesdispatch.com.