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BRT Member Companies Contribute more than $60 Million to China Earthquake and Myanmar Cyclone Relief

Washington, D.C. – In response to the devastation following the natural disasters in China and Myanmar, Business Roundtable’s member companies pledged more than $65 million in financial, in-kind and employee matching program donations to help speed relief efforts in the disaster-stricken areas. The Myanmar government’s recent acceptance of foreign humanitarian workers into the country sparked a rise in corporate donations to $7.1 million. Company donations to the China earthquake have also risen to more than $58 million.

Business Roundtable’s Partnership for Disaster Response continues to work closely with its relief agency partners on the ground to assess the situations and evaluate critical needs. The Partnership for Disaster Response aims to bring together the many resources and capabilities of the private sector to enhance and accelerate relief and recovery following major natural disasters in the United States and abroad.

To date, contributions from 68 Roundtable members include:

China Relief Effort:

  • Cash Contributions: Abbott, ACE Limited, AIG, Chevron, General Electric, General Mills, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG LLP, MasterCard Worldwide, Merck & Co. Inc., New York Life Insurance, Texas Instruments, United Technologies Corp, W.W. Grainger, Xerox
  • Employee Matching Gifts: Avery Dennison, Bechtel Group, Boeing Company, Dow Chemical Company, EMC Corporation, Verizon Wireless
  • In-Kind Donations: Abbott – antibiotics; IBM – servers and high end technology; Caterpillar Foundation – machines, work tools and power generators; Coca-Cola Company – water; FedEx – a chartered flight with relief supplies; Tyco Electronics Ltd – products and services to help rebuild critical telecommunications and energy networks

Myanmar Relief Effort:

  • Cash Contributions: American Express, Chevron, Motorola Inc, Pfizer Inc, Procter & Gamble, Schering-Plough Corporation
  • Employee Matching Gifts: Merrill Lynch
  • In-Kind Donations: Abbott – antibiotics; Caterpillar Foundation – machines and power generators

A detailed list of all of the Roundtable member companies’ donations is available at www.respondtodisaster.org.

“Once again, we have seen how corporate donations are vital to helping speed the relief effort," said Tom Lehner, director of public policy at Business Roundtable. "Given the complicated political situations in both areas, having partnerships in place in advance has allowed our companies to be more strategic, thoughtful and effective when determining how to contribute.”

These donations mirror the outpouring of contributions to support relief efforts following the 2005 disasters. Roundtable member companies contributed more than $362 million in cash and in-kind donations to the immediate relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, $106 million following the Asian tsunami, and $47 million to the South East Asia earthquake.

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