MECHANICSVILLE, Va. -- Within 48 hours of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast, all Fas Mart convenience stores became official donation points for American Red Cross relief in conjunction with Clear Channel's Storm Aid relief effort.
GPM Investments LLC, Mechanicsville, Va., operates more than 160 c-stores in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware Connecticut and North Carolina. It carries the Fas Mart brand in Virginia and Connecticut and the Shore Stop brand on the Eastern Shore [image-nocss] of Maryland and Virginia, and the state of Delaware.
Also, Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp. said that the company will contribute an additional $3.5 million to charitable organizations that are involved in providing aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Of this amount, the company is specifically directing $1.5 million to the Houston Katrina Relief Fund and $1 million to the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast. The remaining $1 million will be granted to other Gulf Coast relief efforts as needs are identified in the coming weeks.
This additional commitment, when combined with the previously announced $1.5 million donation to the American Red Cross and the company's ongoing matching contribution program brings the company's total contribution to Katrina relief efforts to more than $5 million.
The company also continues to matchto the Red Crossdollar-for-dollar employee, retiree and Marathon dealer, jobber and wholesaler donations to organizations engaged in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Since September 8, members of these groups have donated more than $185,000.
Marathon said it will also continue to support employee efforts to help victims of this disaster. Employees have eagerly responded by providing volunteer assistance in shelters and at other relief agencies, as well as by continuing to participate in collection drives for supplies for those in need.
Meanwhile, Katrina is not the only weather on the Doppler radar screen.
As North Carolina residents brace for the possible landfall of Tropical Storm Ophelia, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., St. Louis, said that it is preparing to supply emergency drinking water immediately after the storm.
A-B is shipping 51,600 cans of drinking water to Atlantic Beverage, the A-B wholesaler serving the area near New Bern, N.C. Atlantic Beverage will coordinate delivery of the water to the Coastal Carolina chapter of the Red Cross.
To date, Anheuser-Busch has donated nearly 5.6 million cans of drinking water to Gulf Coast victims of Katrina, and the total continues to increase.
And in other charity news, approximately 200 Exxon Mobil Corp. employees participated in various United Way Day of Caring activities throughout North Texas on Tuesday. As part of the 2005 United Way campaign, these volunteers engaged in nursing home activities, planted fall flowers, delivered food and assisted with other needs of ExxonMobil's selected nonprofit agencies. ExxonMobil has one of the largest numbers of volunteers from a single corporation to participate the United Way Day of Caring, the company said.
The selected United Way agencies are Child Care Group, Citizens Development Center, Collin County Children's Advocacy Center, Dallas Children's Advocacy Center, Reading and Radio Resource, Salvation Army, Senior Source and Visiting Nurse Association. In addition, ExxonMobil is partnering with United Way agency Irving Cares to help evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers coordinated a food drive to help restock the agency's food pantry. They are also volunteering in shifts throughout September to help stock that pantry.
In addition to assistance provided by ExxonMobil volunteers, agencies selected for the 2005 Day of Caring will receive grants through the ExxonMobil Volunteer Involvement Program. This ExxonMobil program encourages employees, retirees and other eligible participants to actively contribute their time and talent to nonprofit organizations by providing contributions on the participants' behalf.
Last year, the ExxonMobil campaign raised more than $1.078 million for the United Way in Metropolitan Dallas and Tarrant Counties, said the company. In addition, ExxonMobil employees and retirees volunteered more than 26,800 hours in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which resulted in $258,000 in grants awarded to local organizations through ExxonMobil's Volunteer Involvement Program.
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