The orphanage in Haiti supported by White Stone Church sustained major damage in the earthquake on January 12, said a separate report by fellow NBC affiliate WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tenn. A total of 18 children lived at the orphanage; one died.
U.S. Senator [image-nocss] Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and U.S. Representative Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) helped cut through final stages of red tape to bring the six to the United States, the report added.
According to WBIR reporter Russell Biven, after Pilot had already agreed to take part in the effort, someone from Pilot founder Jimmy Haslam's office, who was very instrumental in making this happen but wanted to remain anonymous, called to ask if Al Fitzpatrick was on this particular trip.
Biven said, "Yes, and you're helping him bring his new little girl home."
The anonymous Pilot Corp. caller said, "He's one of our employees."
Pilot Corp. knew and was helping Al, through Corker's office, get his new little girl home, but the executives did not know he was part of the group trying to get from back Fort Lauderdale.
When the plane landed in Fort Lauderdale, Biven found Al with his girl and told him the jet was from Pilot Corp. "They have requested you ride home on it with your little girl," Biven said.
In other relief-effort news, Turkey Hill Minit Markets, Lancaster, Pa., has launched a program enabling customers to donate to the American Red Cross at cash registers in our stores. Turkey Hill will match up to $10,000 in customer donations, which will be collected through January 31.
CITGO Petroleum Corp., Houston, and its charitable organization, the Simon Bolivar Foundation, have started the shipment to Port-Au-Prince of 120 tons of humanitarian aid, in coordination with the Embassies of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Haiti in the United States.
Alejandro Granado, president and CEO of CITGO, said that the company allocated $1 million for the purchase of aid that will help between 8,000 and 10,000 people. The funds were invested in the purchase of tents, cots, and non battery-operated AM/FM radios.
Additionally, CITGO is conducting a fund-raising campaign that involves CITGO's 3,600 employees and more than 1,000 energy companies, suppliers, marketers and owners of CITGO-branded service stations, as well as nongovernmental/nonprofit organizations, especially those with which CITGO is partnering in different social development initiatives.
Furthermore, the Simon Bolivar Foundation is also matching dollar-for-dollar, up to $600,000 in monetary donations by CITGO employees, which could add $1.2 million to the total aid being provided.
And Carol Stream, Ill.-based A.J. Antunes & Co., a manufacturer of foodservice equipment, controls and water filtration technologies is taking steps to create a multi-year clean water project in Haiti. Through a donation of more than $100,000 in water purification equipment to A Child's Right and to Healing Waters International, A.J. Antunes plans to initiate the project in concert with the opening of displacement camps and more permanent clinics in and around the capital city, it said.
Meanwhile, Wawa Inc., Wawa, Pa., said on Friday that its chain-wide, in-store crisis campaign for Haiti, announced last week, raised more than $350,000. The campaign was held in partnership with the American Red Cross and allowed customers to contribute to the disaster effort by adding $1 to their Wawa purchase at checkout.
To read Wawa CEO Howard Stoeckel's blog entry concerning the chain's relief efforts, click here.
(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage.)
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.