(September 10, 2005) -- The Boeing Co., which on Sept. 1 announced it would donate $1 million to American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and match contributions by employees (dollar for dollar) and eligible retirees (50 cents on the dollar) through Sept. 26 says it will come up with at least $2 million to match roughly $2 million contributed by Boeing employees/retirees as of Sept. 2.
And to enable LB first responders and dispatchers to transport an outpouring of donations for fellow first-responders and dispatchers in the Gulf Coast area, Boeing donated a truck with a 45-foot trailer.
Photo source: LBFD | Volunteers have been steadily filling the trailer.
An old fashioned fire dept. "bucket-brigade" turns into a "Katrina-aid brigade" |
On Sept. 10, LBFD Capt. Jim Arvizu and Steve Chesser, Boeing's Manager of Gov't and Community Relations, watch the operation at LB's Emergency Communications & Operations Center.
Capt. Arvizu said the donated items came from LBFD & LBPD employees. "Everybody put the word out. It was a combination of different organizations and businesses," said Capt. Arvizu. "All these clothes and items will go to first responder families that have been impacted by the disaster." .
Capt. Arvizu said the local response grew to the point where became overwhelming and "we needed help from bigger companies, such as Boeing." Without Boeing's donated truck and cavernous trailer, the items might have languished in LB. "We had to get the items to northern CA by tomorrow [Sept. 11]...and even a U-Haul truck wouldn't have been big enough," Capt. Arvizu said.
Photo source: LBFD | Items loaded on the truck will be driven by a volunteer to Redwood City, CA where 911cares.com (an organization of dispatchers) will haul the goods to the Gulf Coast for families of first responders and dispatchers hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. |
Items are coming from various Fire Stations and other public safety related facilities.
An ECOC dispatcher said a local U-Haul facility in the 5800 block of Paramount Blvd. donated 70 empty boxes to contain the goods. | Photo source: LBFD |
The Boeing Co.'s matching check for at least $2 million to the American Red Cross will amplify sums from the Boeing Company's Employees Community Fund, which the firm says is the world's largest employee-directed charitable organization. It invests "$33 million per year in communities around the globe where Boeing employees live and work. Employees manage the funds locally at more than 50 Boeing sites and choose the community organizations that receive help," the company notes.