Greater Cleveland Chapter accepts largest donation from local company
CLEVELAND, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- National City has collected and
donated more than $657,000 -- nearly half of it in employee donations -- to
the American Red Cross for the tsunami relief effort. This donation,
collected in approximately one month's time, is by far the largest tsunami
relief donation received by the Greater Cleveland Chapter.
"We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the employees of National City,
and of the corporation which more than matched the staff donations in order to
make a truly significant impact on the lives of the millions of survivors of
the December 26 tsunami," stated Mary-Alice Frank, CEO of the Chapter. "We are
familiar with the generosity of National City here in Greater Cleveland, and
now residents of the twelve affected countries in Southeast Asia will be
directly affected in so many positive ways because of this significant
outreach."
Funds donated to the American Red Cross designated for tsunami relief are
being used to fund a five-part relief mission. This includes:
- Emergency and supplemental food aid
- Safe water and restoration of water sanitation systems
- Vaccination and health intervention
- Immediate family supplies
- Mental health counseling
The American Red Cross, in partnership with the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, continues to provide aid to southeast
Asia and east Africa, and it is anticipated that relief efforts will continue
for the long term. This phased program is designed to meet immediate
assistance needs as well as to lay the foundation for ongoing response. The
Red Cross has raised $380 million in gifts and pledges to date, and has
announced that it believes money raised and pledged will be sufficient to
carry out its immediate and longer-term plans.
"Caring for our community -- and that includes our global community -- is
one of National City's greatest hallmarks," said John Gellhausen, executive
vice president, National Consumer Finance Division, National City. "So many
people at National City, from employees to customers, stepped up to do
whatever they could to aid the tsunami victims. National City matched
employee donations of $291,217 and donations employees made prior to our
official tsunami relief fund of $75,431. Altogether, we were able to donate
more than $657,000 to the American Red Cross to assist victims in Southeast
Asia." Gellhausen is a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater
Cleveland Chapter.
The Greater Cleveland Chapter participated in a multi-station live
telecast on January 12, which raised $1.2 million from the Northern Ohio
viewing audience. In total, more than $2 million was donated for tsunami
relief through the Chapter, with corporate gifts from dozens of organizations
including Eaton, The 1525 Foundation, Federation of India Communities
Association, Baker Hostetler, Developers Diversified Realty, JoAnn Stores,
Inc., RPM, The Islamic Center of Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Sikh
community, United Way Services and from thousands of other companies and
individuals.
SOURCE American Red Cross, Greater Cleveland Chapter
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Related links:
http://www.redcross-cleveland.org
CONTACT:
Mary Gygli, Associate Director,
Communications of the American Red Cross, Greater Cleveland
Chapter, +1-216-431-3284, or pager, +1-216-601-7435; or Amber
Garwood, SVP, Media Relations of National City Corporation,
+1-216-222-8202, or cell, +1-216-346-6803
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