IRVING, Texas -- Exxon Mobil Corp. said it is committing $3 million in direct contributions to Hurricane Rita relief and recovery efforts. This includes $1 million to the Texas Disaster Relief Fund initiated by Texas Governor Rick Perry to provide immediate assistance to citizens in need as a result of Hurricane Rita and $1 million to the Emergency Relief Fund for Hurricane Rita Recovery for local relief efforts in the Jefferson County, Texas, area, which covers the communities of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Sabine Pass. The remaining funds will be contributed to other agencies [image-nocss] participating in hurricane relief and recovery efforts.
Including cash and in-kind contributions related to Hurricane Katrina, ExxonMobil has committed in excess of $13 million for relief efforts related to these two storms.
In addition to the direct company contribution for Rita relief and recovery, ExxonMobil also said its previously announced hurricane relief matching program for employees, retirees, surviving spouses, dealers and distributors worldwide will be extended until March 31, 2006. It will provide a one-to-one match of individual contributions up to $50,000 to specific organizations that are positioned to provide hurricane relief and recovery assistance.
In addition to the financial support, ExxonMobil continues to donate fuel to emergency responders. Its program is designed to assist first responders in the impacted areas in Texas and Louisiana in those limited, extraordinary circumstances where traditional suppliers or FEMA cannot accommodate their fuel needs. "First Responders" include police, fire and rescue squads and hospital and medical facilities providing first-response rescue efforts and addressing critical community needs.
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch has delivered drinking water to the Texas Department of Public Safety in Beaumont, Texas, for Rita victims and relief workers. The company has sent 12,520 cases, or more than 300,000 cans.
Anticipating the need for safe drinking water, A-B last week pre-positioned water at its warehouse in Waco, Texas, to enable the company to respond immediately to emergency requests.
Since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, A-B and its wholesalers have donated approximately 6.3 million cans of drinking water to victims and relief workers, including more than 1 million cans in Texas. In addition to the safe drinking water, A-B, its foundation, wholesalers and employees are donating $3 million combined to aid victims of Katrina. The company also has donated goods such as clothes and other items valued at approximately $1 million.
Also, generators provided by spirits, beer and wine company Diageo are now operational at the Mauriceville, Texas, Elementary School, which now serves as the center for all Emergency Operations in Orange County, Texas. The Mauriceville area was one of the hardest hit by Rita. And a tractor-trailer packed with Diageo bottled water has been delivered to the area and is being handed out to first-responders and victims.
The generators and water, part of Diageo's Spirit of the Americas Humanitarian Aid program, are there to service the area's most critical needs. Diageo's trucking partners, Exel Logistics and Priority Transportation, are assisting with the transportation of the bottled water, produced by Melwood Springs and distributed by Georgia Crown Distributing.
Less than three weeks ago, Diageo was first on the scene in Gulfport, Miss., following Katrina, providing power to operate the Harrison County EOC in Gulfport and the county's Emergency 911 Communications Center.
Also in preparation for Hurricane Rita, Diageo Guinness USA, the company's beer subsidiary, postponed its national sales meeting and asked the hotel to release its 400-room block to those who may be displaced by Rita.
In other relief news, New Port Richey, Fla.-based food equipment maker Enodis, its employees from around the world and its aligned sales representatives in the United States have contributed more than $165,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Enodis companies also provided a variety of food equipment to support the relief efforts, along with making the Frymaster facility in Shreveport, La., available as a staging area for food equipment destined for Louisiana and other Gulf Coast areas damaged by the hurricane. The equipment from Enodis companies has been used in temporary kitchens feeding evacuees in a variety of Gulf Coast shelters, to provide food for relief and emergency workers deployed to the area and to help restaurants in the area reopen in their efforts to support emergency relief.
Immediately following the storm, Enodis made an initial emergency contribution of $20,000 to the Red Cross for emergency relief. Enodis employees and business associates throughout the company's North American and global operations made contributions exceeding $70,000 directly to relief charities. Enodis matched the efforts of its associates with additional contributions from the Enodis Foundation, bringing the total contributions to more than$165,000.
Enodis also implemented a variety of initiatives designed to help business partners and customers in the devastated areas accelerate their recovery and rebuilding.
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