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Going the Distance: The U.S. Tsunami Relief Effort 2005
U.S. Private-Sector Support for Tsunami Relief
Corporate donors include companies such as ChevronTexaco Corp., which has sent $490,000 to the Thai Red Cross and local relief agencies; General Mills Inc., which has spent $750,000 on food, water, and shelter for victims; and Levi Strauss & Co., which has contributed $160,000 to local relief agencies. Foundations established by large corporations also are giving generously, among them the Abbot Laboratories Fund, pledging $4 million in health care products and cash; the GE (General Electric) Foundation, contributing $10 million; and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, created by the Microsoft chief executive and his wife, pledging $3 million. Throughout the United States, charitable organizations ranging from national nonprofits to local community groups are engaged in fundraising efforts to assist tsunami survivors. In addition, nearly every major U.S. religious denomination seems to be actively supporting the relief effort. The list of donors released by the Center on Philanthropy includes the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Baptist World Aid, Catholic Relief Services, Episcopal Relief and Development, Lutheran World Relief, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
The American Red Cross already has contributed nearly $160 million of a planned $400 million expenditure to relief and recovery efforts in the affected area. The Brother's Brother Foundation, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has sent over $8 million worth of medicines and supplies to tsunami survivors, while CitiHope International, a Christian relief and development agency based in Andes, New York, has contributed $10 million to the aid effort. The U.S. chapter of Doctors Without Borders has raised $20 million for tsunami relief -- an amount sufficient "for our currently foreseen emergency response in South Asia," according to the organization. Overall, the international nonprofit group says it has sent more than 160 international aid workers and 400 tons of relief materials to provide assistance to people affected by the crisis in South Asia. Another volunteer organization, Habitat for Humanity, is currently working to rebuild housing in six of the 12 affected countries. The organization, based in the U.S. state of Georgia, is strongly supported by former President Jimmy Carter, who frequently participates in its home-construction projects. In the initial days after the disaster, many other American corporations had responded. At a January 6 forum in Washington, the Global Business Dialogue (GBD) noted the following contributions, among others: Proctor and Gamble is providing $1 million worth of its PUR water purification sachets as well as $500,000 in cash to partner organizations to deliver over 150 million liters of purified water to areas in the greatest need. New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson has made an initial cash contribution of $2 million to relief efforts and is distributing medical supplies throughout the region. The world's largest package delivery company, UPS, based in Atlanta, has announced it will ship free up to one million pounds of emergency relief supplies from Europe, Asia, and the Americas via air, ship, and ground to Asia. In addition: Top corporate donors and their foundations include pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc., which is donating $10 million in cash to local and international relief organizations and $25 million in medicines. The Coca-Cola Company is contributing $10 million, Exxon Mobil Corporation and its employees are giving $5 million, and Citigroup Inc. is sending $3 million. The Dow Chemical Co. of Michigan said it will contribute $5 million in aid funding, matches of employee contributions for relief, and products and funds for longer-term reconstruction efforts. As of January 3, online retailer Amazon.com had collected nearly $13 million for the American Red Cross disaster relief fund from almost 160,000 contributors using Amazon.com's one-click payment system. The Wal-Mart chain of variety stores is setting up collection containers in its stores and has pledged $2 million from its foundation, according to news reports. Internet service providers Google Inc., America Online, and Yahoo are all linking visitors to their sites to relief groups ranging from the Red Cross and its sister organizations, to CARE, AmeriCares, Oxfam, World Vision, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The list of private contributors includes drug and health-care companies: Merck and Company, Inc. is donating $3 million. All also are sending supplies to the affected region, which spans from Indonesia to Somalia. Bristol-Myers Squibb is donating $1 million in funds and enough antibiotics and antifungal drugs to treat 75,000 people. Drug companies with operations in the area have employees distributing antibiotics, nutritional supplements, infant formula, and baby food and other supplies, news reports say. News sources cite further corporate donors, including Nike, American Express, and First Data, each giving $1 million. PepsiCo rushed out bottled water from one of its plants in India and plans to contribute an additional $1 million to the relief effort. Cisco Systems Inc. the Cisco Foundation, and Cisco employees are donating $2.5 million. Pledged aid funds include $3 million from a philanthropic foundation started by Michael Dell, founder of the Dell computer company. U.S.-based health-care provider Kaiser Permanente has offered to send physicians to help the relief effort, and some oil companies reportedly are supplying free fuel for rescue operations. Federal Express is shipping medical supplies to the region on behalf of several aid groups. Northwest Airlines is teaming with AmeriCares to transport relief supplies. MoneyGram has offered to discount its fees for sending money transfers to the region. Stucc On Steel, based in Virginia, said it is donating $2.5 million for building 5,000 low-cost, high-strength houses for homeless families. The company's new foundation, created to help tsunami reconstruction, also will provide training and other support to builders in the area. Texas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. said it will contribute $1.5 million in a combination of direct support and in dollar-for-dollar matching of employee contributions. New Jersey-based Prudential Foundation, the grant-making organization of Prudential Financial Inc., said it will donate $1 million and open a disaster-relief fund for employees, waiving an annual limit for its matching gifts program. The Carnegie Corp. of New York and the New York Stock Exchange each have pledged $1 million to tsunami relief. Companies are targeting the major groups working in the area to receive their help, including the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Red Cross, as well as local groups such as the National Relief Fund of India and The King of Thailand Foundation, according to news reports. Celebrities are also contributing to the relief effort, including film stars Sandra Bullock, giving $1 million, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who has pledged a "sizeable" amount, according to news reports. In 2000, DiCaprio filmed a movie on an island in Thailand that has been devastated by the disaster. Other performers will appear in and contribute to tsunami-related fundraising concerts and television specials, including a January 15 telethon broadcast by NBC television. At the Global Business Dialogue forum, Vikram Misri of the Embassy of India said his nation has "been touched and gratified by the love, the warmth, and the affection and the generosity that has been shown by the American people -- ordinary citizens, the government ... who have brought to this disaster a very human face." |
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