Retailers and Suppliers Support Hurricane Relief

NEW YORK -- The convenience store industry's major oil companies as well as suppliers are contributing millions of dollars to the hurricane relief efforts, including needed products such as water, food and medicine, according to CNN Money.

Big oil companies donating money include Amerada Hess, which said it would contribute $1 million to the American Red Cross for its disaster relief efforts in responding to Hurricane Katrina as well as match individual employee donations to the Red Cross.

BP is donating $1 million to the Red Cross and Chevron is making a $5 million donation -- $3 million to the Red Cross and $2 million to local charities in the area.

Additionally, ExxonMobil will donate $2 million to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. It will also be donating fuel to government responders.

Industry suppliers have also offered donations. Anheuser-Busch shipped 12,600 cases of drinking water for the Red Cross to distribute to victims in affected areas of Louisiana, and Bayer Corp. committed $2 million in cash and product donations and will also match employee donations to the Red Cross, according to the report by CNN Money.

Also, PepsiAmericas will contribute $500,000 in financial aid and water and Miller Brewing said it was sending six truckloads from its Albany, Ga., brewery with more than 80,000 bottles of drinking water to victims in Louisiana and Mississippi.


The Grocery Manufacturer's Association in Washington, D.C., has been fielding calls from its members in the food industry on the best ways to get involved in the food relief effort, which is being coordinated by America's Second Harvest, via its network of food banks in the beleaguered region, reported Brandweek.com.

A spokesman in the report said the organization secured its first distribution center, an 86,000-square-foot space that is located 20 miles outside of Baton Rouge.

Food marketers are also contributing financial donations, food and beverages. Due to widespread electrical outages, foods must be shelf-stable. On the top of the list: water, baby food, high-protein items like cereal and granola bars, ready-to-serve soups, toilet paper, toothbrushes. The first relief caravan of 28 trucks headed for Baton Rouge this afternoon carting water (Nestle), cereal bars (Kellogg's, General Mills), soups and V8 juices (Campbell Soup), and an assortment of products from ConAgra Foods, Hormel and Procter & Gamble, Brandweek.com reported.
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