HOUSTON -- As former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton hope to relieve the suffering of thousands of Americans by raising money to rebuild and assist with medical services in three states hit by Hurricane Katrina, more companies involved with the petroleum and convenience store industry are contributing to the relief effort.
Bush and Clinton formally announced the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund on Monday at Reliant Center, which sits adjacent to the Astrodome, reported the Associated Press.
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The money raised by the newest nationwide fundraising campaign will go to the governors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to assist with disaster relief. President George W. Bush asked his father and Clinton to pair up again based on the success they had raising money for tsunami victims. The pair raised $11 million during that effort.
The former presidents are starting off their second campaign with $15 million already contributed. McGrath said Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has pledged the funds.
Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane also offered a substantial contribution. The Astros have contributed $200,000 to organizations assisting victims of Katrina. McLane matched a $100,000 donation collected by his players and coaches. The wives of nine players also took part in a relief drive outside the stadium before Sunday's game against St. Louis at Minute Maid Park.
Click here for information on the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.
CITGO
Houston-based CITGO Petroleum Corp. President and CEO F alix Rodr a guez announced that the company has pledged an additional $1 million towards Katrina relief efforts, bringing the total so far pledged by the company to $2 million.
The additional funds will be used to help with relief efforts in cities such as Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, and Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, La., he said.
BP
BP has extended its employee contribution matching offer to BP branded jobbers, franchisees, dealers and commission marketers. The BP Foundation will match up to a total of $1 million of contributions to the American Red Cross by its BP branded jobbers, franchisees, dealers and commission marketers. Our expectation is that these contributions will be made directly by the jobber, franchisee, dealer, or commission marketer rather than by collecting contributions from employees or customers.
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corp., Houston, haspledged $500,000 each to the American Red Cross Houston Area Chapter and the new United Way Katrina Relief Fund to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina now in the Houston area. The $1 million grant is part of the $7 million ExxonMobil has committed to Hurricane Katrina efforts.
In addition to the $1 million grant, many of the more than 16,000 ExxonMobil employees and retirees in the Houston area are volunteering their time at area shelters as well as collecting supplies for local agencies serving the evacuees.
For ExxonMobil employees affected by the hurricane, ExxonMobil has established an assistance program which includes interest-free emergency loans, advances in salary, paid time off to attend to personal needs and access to temporary transportation assistance.
Inland Food Stores
Convenience store company Inland Food Stores, part of Southwest Georgia Oil Co. Inc., Bainbridge, Ga., has vowed to raise $30,000 in 30 days to assist in relief efforts, vice president and COO Aaron Goodman told CSP Daily News. Pepsi-Cola has agreed to assist in providing point-of-sale (POS) materials to assist with the execution of this fundraiser. Basically, that is $1,000 per store for our company, he said.
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., St. Louis, said it will be increasing its donation of fresh drinking water to nearly 2.5 million cans per week to Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Recognizing the unique position the company is in to provide safe drinking water, the company will also be converting operations at its Houston brewery, in addition to its Cartersville, Ga., brewery, to producing canned water.
The company's Foundation, the philanthropic arm of A-B, is also increasing its donation to the Red Cross to $1 million to help ongoing relief efforts along the Gulf Coast communities devastated by Katrina. A-B will also match contributions made by its employees to the Red Cross Katrina relief efforts. In addition, the company announced it will match up to an additional $1 million from its independent wholesalers nationwide.
A-B also said that it is making its truck fleet available to the Red Cross to ship emergency supplies such as generators, food and clothing. The trucks are located at the company's 12 domestic breweries in St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, Jacksonville, Fla., Williamsburg, Va., Baldwinsville, N.Y., Cartersville, Ga., Columbus, Ohio, Fort Collins, Colo., Merrimack, N.H. and Fairfield, Calif. A-B's logistics network, its freight carriers and wholesalers are working with officials to find passable routes into the stricken areas to deliver the water.
While converting some equipment at the two breweries to package drinking water instead of beer, Anheuser-Busch is shipping beer from its other breweries to serve its customers in areas normally served by the Houston and Cartersville breweries.
Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Co., Coca-Cola Enterprises, The Coca-Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola Bottlers nationwide, through the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association, are donating $5 million to support the relief and rescue efforts in communities devastated by Katrina. The money will be divided among the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Coca-Cola System Hurricane Katrina Employee Relief Fund, which will assist displaced system employees.
In addition to the $5 million donation, the company and its bottlers have plants running continually to produce water and other beverages for donation to the relief efforts across the south. Water and product donations to date total hundreds of thousands of cases.
PepsiAmericas
Minneapolis-based PepsiAmericas Inc. has announced its pledge of financial support to its affected employees and $500,000 in funding and drinking water for Katrina relief efforts.
ATMIA
The ATM Industry Association and ATMmarketplace are seeking donations from the ATM industry to assist those affected by Katrina. All donations will be deposited into ATMIA's Education & Development Fund, a nonprofit charity. Donations to the fund will be handed over to the Red Cross and an ATM business hardest hit by the flooding and hurricane damage. ATMIA will report the amount of money donated for the effort, as well as provide an update about the money's distribution to the Red Cross and a worthy recipient, which will be determined by the ATMIA executive board.
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