FedEx has a healthy corporate responsibility program, and one focus that sets this company apart from others is their commitment to disaster relief. The company’s vast global logistics and transportation infrastructure has the ability to deliver much needed supplies to some of the places hit hardest by disaster. FedEx has long partnered with non-governmental organizations to deliver humanitarian supplies to people who need it at the most critical times.
Some simple facts about FedEx’s involvement in humanitarian relief efforts listed on their website are:
- Donating more than $300,000 in cash and $500,000 of in-kind shipping to support relief efforts in China and Myanmar, including a FedEx MD-11 charter flight with more than 250 pallets of critically needed medical supplies.
- Donating pilots’ time and aircraft to deliver 77 tons of generators, clothing, blankets, tents and tools to the victims of a Peruvian earthquake.
- Providing in-kind shipping for more than two million pounds of relief aid to those affected throughout the Gulf Coast region during the 2005 hurricane season.
- Working with more than 20 government and relief organizations to deliver more than one million pounds of supplies following the tsunamis in Southeast Asia.
On September 2, 2005, a FedEx Express plane carrying 5,000 cots and thousands of Red Cross toiletry kits to victims of Hurricane Katrina taxied to the runway at Newark International Airport in New Jersey.
After all of these solid contributions, FedEx has solidified their commitment to this cause by sponsoring the first web-based mapping tool that will undoubtedly revolutionize the way aid is delivered in emergency situations from this point forward. Partnering with the US government, and the largest US based alliance of NGOs, this tool takes all of the guess work out of aid delivery. In the past, relief organizations lacked a common way of communicating among each other about the aid that each organization was providing, which ultimately resulted in unbalanced geographic pockets of relief. In critical situations when days and hours can mean the difference between life an death this technological development is revolutionary.
According to a press release, “The US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC); FedEx; and InterAction, the largest alliance of US-based international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on the world’s poor and most vulnerable, are working together to develop a web-based mapping platform to bring transparency and accountability to these efforts in Haiti. This online platform will share critical data about resource allocation, programmatic activities deployed in Haiti and unmet needs. The prototype can be found at http://haitiaidmap.org.”
Although the completed platform is expected by the end of the year, the potential impact of this finalized technology is enormous. Not only is this a great example of how one company’s CSR program can make a broad impact, but it also proves that the developments sponsored by FedEx will help other companies philanthropic departments make informed choices about where and how to give donations in relief efforts. As quoted in the press release, US Chamber BCLC Executive Director Stephen Jordan said, “The challenges facing Haiti’s recovery are immense, but until now, it has been difficult to get a clear view of the whole picture. The mapping tool will be a vital resource for helping companies, NGOs and government agencies understand where the critical needs are and where they can make the biggest difference.”
Shane O’Connor, program advisor of FedEx Global Citizenship added, “The potential this project has to create a prototype that may be replicated to help with relief and recovery efforts around the world is especially promising. FedEx is honored to play a role in helping make it happen.”
Now that’s a good piece of news.
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Photo courtesy FedEx.