A number of companies and organizations that market products to the green industry have announced plans to contribute to the tsunami relief effort. Among them are John Deere, Toro, Textron, Caterpillar, Syngenta, BASF, Bayer, JCB and Dow.
Textron Inc. has announced that it will donate up to $750,000 to assist with the relief efforts, including an initial contribution of $250,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund's tsunami relief efforts, and a $250,000 grant for a dollar-for-dollar match of employee contributions to the organization.
"On behalf of Textron employees worldwide, our heartfelt sympathies go out to all who have been affected by this devastating tragedy," says Lewis B. Campbell, Textron chairman, president and CEO. The effort accompanies a variety of local efforts initiated by Textron businesses and facilities worldwide in support of tsunami relief in affected regions.
The Toro Co. is encouraging its employees to contribute to this effort with monetary donations. All contributions received will be matched dollar-for-dollar by The Toro Foundation to a maximum of $100,000. The donations will be directed to the American Red Cross and International Red Cross/Red Crescent.
"We hope to help meet immediate and long-term needs of those affected in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Malaysia and Maldives," says Ken Melrose, chairman and CEO. "The employees of Toro will work together to help make a difference to all who have been shattered by this tragedy."
In addition to monetary donations, Toro's employees and channel partners in the region are working to identify additional opportunities to provide assistance, products and support in the international restoration effort over the coming months. The company says its distributors and dealers in Sri Lanka and Thailand were spared from the devastation of the tsunamis.
The Caterpillar Foundation is committing $1 million to ongoing relief and recovery efforts in the region. Donations to relief efforts by Caterpillar employees, retirees, Caterpillar directors and employees of Caterpillar dealers will be matched by Caterpillar up to $2,000 per person.
The contribution from the foundation will be divided between The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Oxfam and The Salvation Army.
In the immediate aftermath, Caterpillar dealers in the region have made equipment, personnel and other resources available to aid in recovery and cleanup efforts. At the corporate level, Caterpillar is working with dealers to make additional equipment available to government agencies and non-governmental agencies. According to the company, all Caterpillar employees and their families, and dealer employees in the region have been accounted for, and no casualties have been reported.
The John Deere Foundation will provide $1 million to support ongoing relief and restoration efforts. Foundation officials said the money would be provided for international relief efforts through the American Red Cross, efforts that are expected to be ongoing for many months.
"This disaster has touched all of us deeply as individuals," says Robert W. Lane, chairman and CEO. "Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected by this unimaginable disaster." Lane serves as vice president and a director of the John Deere Foundation.
Company officials said its business operations and employees in India - a joint venture manufacturing facility in Pune - were not impacted by the earthquake and tsunami.
Syngenta is initially donating a total of $100,000 to aid agencies in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. In addition, the company will provide 10,000 safety kits with gloves and masks for the Red Cross and specific insecticides to reduce the risk of dengue fever spreading in affected regions. It will also work together with regional and international agencies to contribute to additional aid initiatives and programs.
JCB, the UK-based maker of loaders and excavators, is donating $1 million worth of machines to help in the clear up operation in the Asian earthquake disaster zone. The company has a U.S headquarters in Savannah, Ga.
JCB machines are now being made available through JCB India and also through dealers in the devastated region.
“As we’ve watched the devastation in the region unfold, it is quite obvious that immediate assistance is needed to help in the aftermath of this disaster,” JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford says. “JCB will make available as many machines as we can to help to help in the clear up efforts. If it takes more than $1 million, we stand ready to help."
BASF Aktiengesellschaft has agreed to provide €1 million in immediate aid.
In addition, employees’ donations throughout the BASF Group worldwide will be matched through Jan. 31.
In a joint letter from the board of executive directors, the works council and the committee of executive representatives, BASF employees are called upon to contribute to the appeal.
“The damage resulting from this once-in-a-century disaster is unimaginable. It is our utmost concern to help the people in need. Therefore, we call on all our workers to make a donation,” says BASF chairman Jürgen Hambrecht."
BASF has sites in the affected countries, but none directly in the affected areas.
The Bayer Group is continuing to assist, with donations of cash and medicines totaling about €10 million.
Following initial spontaneous donations in the amount of €500,000 already made at the end of December, Bayer is now helping meet the relief organizations' need for medicines to treat flood victims and aid workers.
Bayer HealthCare is sending antibiotics, pain relievers and cardiovascular drugs to treat people in the stricken areas, and Bayer CropScience is supplying products to combat the insects that spread diarrhea, malaria and other hemorrhagic fevers.
Bayer employs some 5,700 people in India, Indonesia and Thailand, which are among the most severely affected countries. They, too, are helping their fellow-citizens by donating money, technical assistance and clothing and by assisting directly with relief operations in the devastated areas.
The Dow Chemical Co. will contribute $5 million to the relief efforts including $1 million to the Red Cross and $1 million to match employee contributions. The remainder will be given in products, technology and funds for restoration.
The company says it will work with governments, agencies and other interested parties in the affected areas to determine how best to provide support.
“As we’ve all seen, the reports and images from the tsunami-stricken regions in Southeast Asia and the Indian sub-continent are at once incomprehensible and heart-breaking,” Andrew Liveris, president and CEO, says. “At times like these, we all struggle to come up with meaningful ways to contribute and help those who have lost so much.”
No Dow operations were directly impacted by the tsunamis.