The Hindu Business Line : Wal-Mart shows the way in Katrina relief measures

EVEN as a shell-shocked America and its Government tries to grapple with Hurricane Katrina's massive trail of destruction in New Orleans, retailer Wal-Mart has emerged as one of the biggest contributors to relief measures that are gathering steam here.

The group has till date pledged a total of $17 million to relief operations in the hurricane-ravaged areas including the $15 million it committed to jump-start a nationwide joint fund raising effort by the former Presidents Mr George Bush and Mr Bill Clinton.

The group's total contributions to the hurricane relief effort, including donations from the Walton family which founded the chain store, stands at $38 million.

The Arkansas-based retailer is one of the first to get to the region ravaged by the hurricane, setting up donation centres, distributing water and emergency supplies to survivors, as early as Thursday last, and is now backing up its initial efforts by sending in huge consignments of emergency supplies to survivors.

At last count, 2,400 trailer-loads of water and emergency supplies such as bedding, clothing, baby food, diapers and tooth brushes had been dispatched to New Orleans which is still struggling to get back on its feet.

The group has opened out 17 of its vacant facilities including a 1,00,000-sq. ft. new store in Texas for relief agencies such as the American Red Cross to get on with their operations, with the chain picking up the utility bills.

"We realise that our preparedness and fast response to the crisis situation was very helpful at that point, and we are even now working with relief operations and the US Government to ensure that the survivors get every help possible," Ms Beth Keck, Director, International Corporate Affairs, told Business Line.

The group donated $2 million in cash to aid emergency relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and has initiated a massive donation drive through its 3,800 stores and its Sam's Club outlets worldwide, encouraging people to either contribute cash at the stores or through its five Web sites.

Wal-Mart, which has more than 100 outlets in the region (89 have been damaged) affected by the hurricane, has also moved in quickly to help out workers who have been displaced by the hurricane.

Ms Keck said over 34,000 Wal-Mart "associates" (workers) were affected, and 90 per cent of them have been tracked.

The chain said displaced associates can get work in any of the outlets across the US to help rehabilitate them in addition to offering financial help if their homes were flooded or destroyed.

The opportunity to show its empathy for the disaster hit in the South-East can prove to be a major image and moral booster for the retail major which has been at the receiving end of huge negative publicity in recent times.

The corporation has been criticised for its employment and wage violations and is in the midst of a class action gender discrimination suit filed by a handful of former women workers and certified by a southern district court in California.

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