Walmart has committed $5 million in support of Hurricane Maria relief efforts. This builds on the commitments previously announced by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation totaling $35 million to support 2017 hurricane assistance in response to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
“Our associates and friends in Puerto Rico are in significant need,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. “We want to do all we can to help, not only with immediate hurricane assistance, but in the long term, knowing that there are many challenging days of recovery and rebuilding ahead.”
Walmart operates 45 retail facilities in Puerto Rico, which includes two distribution centers and a satellite headquarters, supported by nearly 15,000 associates across the island. The $5 million commitment will support organizations helping with local relief efforts supporting those in need.
Other efforts by Walmart in Puerto Rico include:
♦ Taking care of company associates and their families. The company is focused on providing associates disaster assistance along with their regular paychecks. Walmart has been working through a process to do so safely and efficiently this week.
♦ Continued relief efforts centralized through the Walmart Emergency Operations Center, which operates 24 hours a day tracking storm impacts and supporting associates’ needs and well-being. The EOC also facilitates store recovery and is supporting community relief efforts on the island.
♦ Walmart has company leadership in Puerto Rico and continues to be in regular contact with FEMA, the American Red Cross and other partners while responding to various needs. The company has also sent communications specialists, electricians and other skilled support teams to the island to help stores and club locations recover as quickly as possible.
♦ Walmart continues to work toward assessing the status of its facilities on the island as they are safely able to access them. So far, the company has been able to re-open around 20 stores and five club locations along with nearly a dozen pharmacies on the island.
♦ The company recognizes the need for access to food, water, fuel, medication and other critical items for customers and associates. Walmart is planning to open facilities very thoughtfully, most likely under limited hours, and metered access to control lines and enhance security for customers. The company is also utilizing corporate jets to get emergency insulin to the island.
♦ Walmart is working to ship critical supplies and product to the island. Hundreds of loads of water, emergency supplies and other needed resources, like generators, have been delivered over the last several days. The company also has critical freight on a vessel that departed Florida earlier this week and plans to send more supplies before the end of this week.
♦ The company is actively providing stores with freight and will send product to both open stores and those that are able to accept deliveries as soon as safely possible.
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For more information, visit corporate.walmart.com.
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