Re: Why don't these oil companies contribute?
Yea, look at all these stingy corporations...<br />Companies move to give to hurricane relief efforts<br /><br /><br />Associated Press<br /><br />Pharmaceutical companies rounded up much-needed medicine, water suppliers loaded trucks with thirst-quenching cargo and companies from petroleum giants to beer makers pitched in millions in cash and products today to help communities battered by Hurricane Katrina. <br /><br /> <br />The efforts to collect money and goods to help the Gulf Coast rebuild gathered momentum Wednesday as officials continued assessing the damage from one of the nation's worst natural disasters. <br /><br />American Red Cross spokeswoman Sarah Marchetti said at least 30 companies had made donations by this morning, and the number was expected to climb. <br /><br />"They've been pouring in," she said. <br /><br />In Indianapolis, drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. prepared to send 40,000 vials of refrigerated insulin to patients in the Southeast, along with at least $1 million in cash to the American Red Cross. <br /><br />"We're poised to ship as soon as we get the OK," Lilly spokesman Edward Sagebiel said. <br /><br />Drug maker Wyeth of Madison, N.J., planned to donate antibiotics and nonprescription pain relievers, health care giant Johnson & Johnson provided $250,000 worth of kits containing toothbrushes, soap and shampoo, as well as pallets of pain relievers and wound care supplies. Drug maker Merck & Co. planned to send antibiotics and hepatitis A vaccines to protect those facing contaminated waters. <br /><br />"Our commitment is open-ended," said Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore. <br /><br />Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories Inc. is giving $2 million cash and at least $2 million in nutritional and medical products. <br /><br />The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said initial corporate donations to the relief efforts could total more than $100 million. <br /><br />Hank Goldstein, chairman of Giving USA in Glenview, Ill., said individual and corporate donations combined could reach $1 billion. <br /><br />But he predicted the corporate relief effort would be smaller than those recorded after the 2001 terrorist attacks and the tsunami that ravaged Asia in December. <br /><br />"This kind of money comes quick and comes early and then falls off fast after that," Goldstein said. "It will abate along with the water." <br /><br />Donations today already had reached well into the millions and included $5 million from Chevron Corp., $3 million each from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup, $2 million from Pfizer and $1 million from insurer State Farm. <br /><br />The Walt Disney Co. contributed $2.5 million, $1 million of which will go to the American Red Cross and the rest for rebuilding efforts and volunteer centers helping affected communities. <br /><br />The contributions also included 50 trucks donated by Nissan North America to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, more than 825,000 cans of water supplied by Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis and 3,000 walkie talkie-type phones for emergency personnel from Sprint Nextel Corp. Kellogg Co. of Battle Creek, Mich., sent seven truckloads of crackers and cookies to hard-hit areas. General Motors Corp. also planned to donate 25 cars and trucks to the Red Cross. <br /><br />Qwest Communications International Inc. will send 2,000 long-distance calling cards so those affected could call loved ones, said spokesman Michael Dunne. He said Denver-based Qwest also has given the Red Cross $230,000 to help train responders. <br /><br />Home improvement companies Home Depot and Lowe's pledged cash and manpower, while Culligan International of Northbrook, Ill., sent five truckloads of water to residents in Alabama and Mississippi. <br /><br />The water, part of a larger, 28-truck convoy organized by the Missouri-based Convoy of Hope, was traveling at 10 mph through Mississippi. <br /><br />"It's very treacherous," said Mike Ennis, director of strategic initiatives at Convoy of Hope. <br /><br />Office Depot of Delray Beach, Fla., donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts. Officials announced Wednesday the company also would give the contents of its five New Orleans stores, valued at $4 million, to New Orleans officials to use as they recover from Hurricane Katrina. <br /><br />Spokesman Brian Levine said the contents include items such as printers, paper, cartridges, pens and notebooks. What might be available and its condition were unclear. <br /><br />City officials on Wednesday commandeered equipment from a looted Office Depot. During a state of emergency, authorities have broad powers to take private supplies and buildings for their use. <br /><br />But Levine couldn't say what condition the items might be in given the flooding that has ravaged the city. <br /><br />"I couldn't tell you if it's completely flooded, a little flooded, or not," he said. "Our position is we're donating the contents of the entire store." <br /><br /><br />Before you start whining, how much in enough? A million? A few million? A hundred million? Is that enough?<br /><br />Agree with JB and others- stupid claims with no facts do squat for the situation. <br /><br />UFM82
