Walmart Foundation Announces Relief Efforts Toward Hurricane Laura
With the catastrophic storm, flooding and power outages affecting southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas, Walmart, Sam’s Club and the Walmart Foundation are committing up to $2.5 million in cash and in-kind product donations to organizations leading response and recovery efforts.
The funds and product donations will support relief efforts in the area through four non-profits already active in the response, including the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, SBP USA (Saint Bernard Project), American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. In addition to aid for these organizations, the company is donating more than 600,000 bottles of water to the Louisiana Governor’s Office on Homeland Security and local nonprofits to support impacted communities.
“Hurricane Laura has significantly impacted our associates, customers and the communities we call home, leaving many without power and basic services that may not return for weeks,” said Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of corporate affairs for Walmart Inc. “Our hearts go out to those affected, and we gladly leverage our resources to assist where needed.”
In addition, Walmart and Sam’s Club are also supporting evacuees in Texas, providing phone charging stations in the Lake Charles area and hosting food relief organizations in a store parking lot in Louisiana. As people were evacuated from southeast Texas late last week, many were housed in San Antonio where Walmart supplied a shelter with water, snacks and towels. For those without power in southwest Louisiana, Sam’s Club has set up charging stations at three area clubs so that people may charge their mobile phones. To help those that need hot meals, food relief organizations are handing out food and meal kits to first responders, associates and those impacted by the storm at the Walmart store on Gerstner Memorial Blvd in Lake Charles.