ATLANTA, Oct. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The UPS Foundation , which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS (NYSE: UPS), today announced more than USD $1 million in emergency funding and in-kind support to help response and recovery efforts following the destructive hurricane that recently ravaged Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The UPS Foundation contributions of logistics support will enable the provision of urgent relief efforts.
“The UPS Foundation’s Humanitarian Relief & Resilience program has mobilization protocols which are triggered when a natural disaster occurs anywhere in the world. The backbone of our program is the long-time partnerships that we have with the preeminent relief organizations and United Nations agencies which we engage to help support their life-saving operations to these communities,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPS. “When a community is impacted by a crisis, we feel the need to assist as we consider these communities, our communities. Our hearts go out to those affected by Hurricane Matthew and we are committed to help with this tragedy, sharing our logistics expertise to coordinate urgent relief efforts.”
Through its Humanitarian Relief & Resilience Program, The UPS Foundation has already contributed a significant portion of these funds toward the immediate activation of emergency funds, enabling the purchase and distribution of critical relief supplies. For the Salvation Army , UPS transported almost 30,000 meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) to South Carolina and nearly 4 metric tons of clean-up kits to North Carolina. Additionally, UPS is coordinating with the Salvation Army to deliver more than 70,000 bottles of water to South Carolina and more than 800 boxes of food to Georgia. These supplies will serve as important resources for residents who are in shelters or beginning to clean-up their homes.
CARE is dedicating their emergency funding from The UPS Foundation for aid focused on water and sanitation, food distribution, shelter and psychosocial support. For the American Red Cross , UPS provides annual support to its Annual Disaster Giving Program. This upfront funding helps the Red Cross to immediately open shelters after disasters. They’ve already opened more than 200 shelters in Florida, Georgia and along the Atlantic coast.
UPS is also using its global logistics network to deliver more than 600,000 pounds of relief supplies in Haiti including food and shelter, solar lighting, comfort kits, school supplies, antibiotics, medication and water purification packets to help combat Cholera. For the World Food Programme (WFP) , UPS airlifted two shipments containing 300,000 high energy biscuit packages that will provide 30,000 families food for a week. UPS also coordinated 2 additional flights from Panama for the WFP Global Logistics Cluster with multi-agency supplies and another from Dubai containing kitchen sets, solar lanterns and plastic sheeting for tents. Additionally, UPS is coordinating ground transportation of supplies from Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes, which is also for the WFP Global Logistics Cluster.
Additionally, UPS is working with its partners to combat the cholera outbreak in Haiti. From Copenhagen, Denmark, the company flew in 100 metric tons of antibiotics and water purification tablets for UNICEF and is transporting ocean containers for MAP International with antibiotics, medical equipment, and water purification supplies to Haiti. Cholera is one of 10 identified “pandemic diseases” that UPS has committed to assist with globally.
The UPS Foundation’s Humanitarian Relief and Resilience program provides communities with crisis recovery support, from disaster preparation to urgent relief following an event through post-crisis rehabilitation. In 2016, The UPS Foundation committed $14 million in funding, technical and in-kind services to support a broad range of disaster resilience initiatives to strengthen preparedness, response and post-crisis recovery. In 2015, The UPS Foundation assisted with more than 350 shipments to 50 different countries to help with disaster response and recovery efforts.
For more information about The UPS Foundation’s Humanitarian Relief & Resilience Program, visit UPS.com/Foundation .
About The UPS Foundation
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight; the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Since its founding in 1907, UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation leads its global citizenship programs and is responsible for facilitating community involvement to local, national, and global communities. In 2015, UPS and its employees, active and retired, invested more than $110 million in charitable giving around the world and recorded more than 2.3 million hours of volunteer service. The UPS Foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/Foundation . To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS .
Kristen Petrella 404-828-4182 kpetrella@ups.com
