LOCAL CORPORATIONS RESPOND TO HAITI DISASTER

Norwalk: Hour Staff Report

The Hour 01/16/2010, Page A06 -- General Electric announced a companywide $2.5 million commitment to support relief and recovery efforts in Haiti following the devastating earthquake.

To date, grants from the GE Foundation have been made to the American Red Cross for $1 million and to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for $500,000. The aid will provide immediate support to emergency response efforts and bring relief to the millions of impacted Haitians.

GE has a large presence in Norwalk with several of its divisions based here. Another Norwalk company, Diageo, has also made significant donations to aid relief in Haiti. On Friday, drinks company Diageo delivered more than 45,000 pounds of food and emergency supplies to Haiti. This mission was part of Diageo's Spirit of the Americas Humanitarian Aid program, an ongoing effort to deliver assistance to disaste r zones and communities where Diageo's employees and their families work and live.

GE and Diageo also donated supplies to Hope For Haiti, a nonprofit organization founded by the Kuehner family of Norwalk. (See related story, page A1).

"On behalf of Diageo's nearly 30,000 employees worldwide and those who dis-tribute our products in Haiti, we are honored to be able to deliver assistance in this time of need," said Guy Smith, executive vice president, cor-porate relations of Norwalk-based Diageo North America. "It is our hope that these emergency provisions will give hope and safety to those who were stricken by this ter-rible disaster."

Diageo's aircraft delivered 45,000 pounds of disaster relief, including new World Health Organization ( WHO) sanctioned emergency health kits. The kits contain enough materials to provide basic medical care to more than 10,000 people for 90 days.

The Washington Redsk ins will join with Diageo on Sunday to deliver a second round of aid workers and emergency supplies to Haiti. Redskins' owner Dan Snyder has donated use of his private airplane for this effort, accord-ing to a Diageo spokesman.

Diageo holds a minority stake in Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti S.A., a brewery located in Port Au Prince. The brew-ery has more than 1,300 employees and locally brews Guinness beer and distributes many of Diageo's products.

GE will work with its partners on the ground to assess response efforts and deter-mine next steps to help restore infrastructure and services to the impacted areas.

Also, the GE Foundation - the philanthropic organization of GE - is supporting the charitable efforts of GE employees and retirees with a 100 percent match of funds to qualified relief organizations.

"Recognizing the over-whelming blow this disaster has brought to the Haitian people and the country's infrastructure, GE is committed to help the region in this critical time of need," said Bob Corcoran, vice president of GE Foundation. "The generosity and activation of our employ-ees is inspiring and the GE Foundation is proud to match their philanthropic efforts."

Also locally, Stop & Shop Supermarket announced that it will donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Additionally, beginning today and continuing through Jan. 31, it will be collecting donations in all stores and corpo-rate offices for the Victims of the Haiti earthquake on behalf of the American Red Cross International Response Fund.

"It is our hope that these emergency provisions will give hope and safety to those who were stricken by this terrible disaster."

Guy Smith, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations of Norwalk-based Diageo North America

Copyright © 2010 The Hour Publishing Co. 01/16/2010