Corporations are giving back in the midst of Hurricane devastation in Florida.
Lowe’s today announced it will donate $2 million to support relief efforts in Florida after Hurricane Ian left devastation across the state, causing catastrophic flooding and damage. Lowe’s donation will support disaster relief partners and nonprofit Pro customers, helping organizations provide emergency shelter, food and rebuilding supplies to those affected by the storm. Lowe’s also will host relief events to distribute critical supplies.
The Home Depot Foundation is committing up to $1 million to support immediate disaster relief and long-term recovery efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Ian. This new disaster response grant takes the Foundation’s 2022 disaster commitment to more than $5.5 million.
Alongside nonprofit partners and Team Depot, The Home Depot’s associate volunteer force, the Foundation is providing immediate assistance to communities in need by distributing water and relief supplies, delivering meals, providing shelter and removing debris in the impacted areas as soon as the storm clears.
The Foundation is also shipping more than 1,800 disaster relief kits to Florida to be distributed by Convoy of Hope and other nonprofit partners. The kits, which include garbage bags, paper towels, cleaners, hand sanitizer, scour pads, gloves and N95 masks, will be distributed to people in need and those cleaning up after the storm.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the devastation and the impact on our customers and associates who have been affected by this storm. Their safety is paramount,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chairman and CEO. “While we know recovery will take many months, we’re here to help these communities return to some form of normalcy as soon as possible. We’d also like to thank the first responders and our associates who are serving these communities.”
Lowe’s stores continue to help those affected by the storm, with more than 200 Emergency Response Team (ERT) members being deployed beginning today to the hardest-hit areas. These specially trained associates voluntarily leave their home stores to provide additional customer support at stores affected by storms and give fellow associates a chance to focus on their families. The Emergency Response Teams are traveling from stores across the region.
Lowe’s Emergency Command Center in North Carolina went into activation on Friday, Sept. 23 to support stores and communities ahead of the storm and in its aftermath. Lowe’s has shipped more than 1,000 truckloads across the region to keep stores well-equipped with emergency supplies. The company is poised to deploy its Tool Rental Disaster Response Trailer to Florida to give impacted residents affordable rental options for one-time use equipment such as generators and chainsaws.
