UPS pledges $1-M for 'Yolanda' victims

MANILA, Philippines - One of the largest express carrier and package delivery companies in the world has pledged US$1 million to support the country's relief and recovery efforts for the areas affected by Super Typhoon "Yolanda" (international name Haiyan).

The United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) said the pledge is a combination of cash grants, in-kind transportation movements and technical expertise to provide urgent relief as well as strategic support for long-term needs of those affected.

"UPS and its partners quickly moved our Global Humanitarian Relief Program to urgent response mode and together have set into motion a multi-faceted relief effort,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation.

Martinez said they will immediately provide US$500,000 and an additional US$500,000 will be contributed in the coming months to support and speed up the long-term recovery needs of the affected communities.

The recipients of the company's contributions include the following:

The World Food Programme (wfp.org) for urgent needs in mobilizing its Logistics Emergency Team (LETs) program

United Nations Children’s Fund (unicef.org) to assist the 1.7 million children affected

CARE (care.org) to address short-term sheltering and food insecurity concerns

Salvation Army (salvationarmy.org) to activate remaining donation UPS gave to its emergency fund earlier this year

Medshare for medical supplies to equip medical mission teams.

The UPS said it is in close coordination with its local operations people and key customers to help facilitate a more efficient response to relief efforts.