WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to the ongoing crisis in Haiti, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) reports that as of 12 p.m. EST today, corporate aid pledges have exceeded $43 million, including cash, in-kind contributions, employee-matching campaigns, and customer-engagement. Thus far, 121 companies have contributed to relief efforts, with 22 of these companies donating more than $1 million each.
“It is amazing to see how many companies have responded to the urgency of this tragedy,” said Stephen Jordan, senior vice president and executive director of BCLC. “We are encouraged by the early outpouring of support but we are well aware that this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. The business community stands ready to work with the authorities as the recovery process gets under way.”
Of the more than $43 million in corporate aid pledges, 22 donors pledged $1 million or more in cash or a mix of cash and in-kind support:
Digicel ($5 million)
General Electric Company ($2.5 million)
Amgen Inc. ($2 million)
Citigroup Inc. ($2 million)
Crédit Agricole S.A. ($1.45 million)
Microsoft ($1.25 million)
Abbott ($1 million)
Alcon, Inc. ($1 million)
Bank of America ($1 million)
Baxter International Inc. ($1 million)
The Coca-Cola Company ($1 million)
Comcast ($1 million)
FedEx Corporation ($1 million)
Goldman Sachs ($1 million)
Google Inc. ($1 million)
Jefferies Group Inc. ($1 million)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. ($1 million)
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. ($1 million)
Morgan Stanley ($1 million)
Nestle Waters North America ($1 million)
PepsiCo Foundation ($1 million)
UPS ($1 million)
For a complete list of donors, please visit: http://www.USChamber.com/BCLC/Haiti_CorporateDonations.
BCLC has received more than 500 individual requests from various partners, and continues to serve as the coordination hub for corporate disaster response by activating the Office Depot Foundation-sponsored Help Desk (1-888-MY-BIZ-HELP, [email protected]), hosting information sharing conference calls, documenting corporate aid contributions, and informing the public and relevant partners about the current state of corporate disaster aid contributions.
“Given the swiftness of the response, we expect this will end up being one of the largest corporate responses to an international disaster in modern history,” said Jordan. “Companies are clearly recognizing that they have a vital role to play.”
Regular updates are available from BCLC around the clock. Today, a coordination conference call is taking place at 3 p.m. EST with officials from the American Red Cross, InterAction, and United Nations. Follow BCLC’s Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/chamberbclc) and blog (http://bclc.chamberpost.com) for the most current news.
Corporate donations have become a crucial component of disaster recovery. The largest amount of corporate aid ever mobilized for an international disaster is $566 million, donated in response to the 2004 Southeast Asia Tsunami. More information is available at www.USChamber.com/BCLC.
