Briggs & Stratton Helps American Red Cross "Get Ahead of the Storm" With Second Round of Donations

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG) announced that it will complete its delivery of nearly $1 million in donated generators and pressure washers to an additional 58 American Red Cross chapters nationwide. The donation will help areas prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms and other severe weather to be ready for recovery efforts before disasters hit. This second phase is timely as the winter weather season approaches.

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"Briggs & Stratton's donation of generators and pressure washers will help our chapters all over the country prepare for and respond to disasters by providing tools our teams can use to be ready to deliver critical services," said Jerry DeFrancisco, president, humanitarian services of the American Red Cross. "The key to disaster relief is rapid deployment of assistance, and Briggs & Stratton's generous contribution will help us meet immediate electricity needs after power outages and greatly enhance and quicken clean-up efforts. Briggs & Stratton has been providing durable, reliable and innovative products for over 100 years and we are grateful for this."

"As severe weather hits, Briggs & Stratton is proud to help the American Red Cross get ahead of the storm," said Todd Teske, Chairman, President and CEO of Briggs & Stratton Corporation. "We take great pride in the quality of our products as well as our communities, and it's great to be able to marry the two for this donation."

"We are excited and thankful to be receiving a donation of 28 generators and 8 pressure washers from Briggs & Stratton," said Joel Sullivan, Regional CEO of the Tennessee Volunteer Region which includes Nashville, Tenn. "We will use the Briggs & Stratton generators to power many different items on disaster responses -- from lighting and laptops to equipment for the people we help. We are also grateful for Briggs & Stratton's donation of pressure washers, in the past we've had to rely on rental products. With this gift, we will now have the flexibility to use them whenever we need to clean our disaster vehicles and cots."

The Briggs & Stratton contribution includes approximately 400 generators and 250 pressure washers, which, when combined with the previous donation in May of 2012 totals 850 generators and 480 pressure washers.

The partnership between Briggs & Stratton and the American Red Cross is part of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program. More information can be found at www.briggsandstratton.com and via Facebook/BriggsandStratton and Twitter (@BriggsStratton). In addition, Briggs & Stratton is running a Storm Preparedness Giveaway on Facebook, in which one portable generator and storm preparedness kits will be given away each week. Details of the event can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/142212015925054/.

Briggs & Stratton Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the world's largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. Its wholly owned subsidiary Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group LLC is North America's number one manufacturer of portable generators and pressure washers, and is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of standby generators, along with lawn and garden and turf care through its Simplicity^®, Snapper^®, Ferris^® and Murray^® brands.  Briggs & Stratton products are designed, manufactured, marketed and serviced in over 100 countries on six continents.

SOURCE Briggs & Stratton Corporation