Bottled Water Also Delivered to First Responders and Victims
MAURICEVILLE, Texas, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As Hurricane Rita
continues to unleash dangerous wind and rain across Texas and the Gulf Coast,
generators provided by Diageo, the world's leading spirits, beer and wine
company, are now operational at the Mauriceville Elementary School, which now
serves as the center for all Emergency Operations in Orange County, Texas.
The generators came online at 1:55 PM, Central Time today. The Mauriceville
area was one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Rita.
Now that the generators are online, emergency personnel are restoring
communications and are right now preparing the center as a temporary shelter
as the back end of the storm passes through the region. In addition, a
tractor-trailer packed with Diageo bottled water has been delivered to the
area and is being handed out to first-responders and victims.
Ivan Menezes, Diageo North America's President and CEO said, "After
consultation with state and local emergency operations officials, Diageo has
put into operation two huge generators, immediately restoring power to the
Mauriceville Emergency Operations Center."
The generators and bottled water were put in position in the Baton Rouge
area on Friday, just hours before the storm made landfall early this morning,
Menezes added.
The generators and water, part of Diageo's Spirit of the Americas
Humanitarian Aid program, are there to service the area's most critical needs.
Diageo's trucking partners, Exel Logistics and Priority Transportation, are
assisting with the transportation of the much-needed bottled water. The water
was produced by Melwood Springs and distributed by Georgia Crown Distributing.
Less than three weeks ago, Diageo was first on the scene in Gulfport,
Mississippi following the wrath of Hurricane Katrina, providing power to
operate the Harrison County EOC in Gulfport and the county's Emergency 911
Communications Center.
Also in preparation for Hurricane Rita, Diageo Guinness USA, the company's
beer subsidiary, postponed its National Sales Meeting scheduled next week in
Dallas at the Wyndham Hotel and asked the hotel to release its 400-room block
to those who may be displaced by Hurricane Rita.
Diageo's Spirit of the Americas Humanitarian Aid Missions is facilitated
by the Bridge Foundation, a nonprofit humanitarian aid and development
organization which provides humanitarian aid worldwide.
About Diageo's Spirit of the Americas Humanitarian Aid Program
This assistance effort is part of Diageo's ongoing humanitarian efforts,
which included relief for Hurricane Katrina and last year's Hurricanes
Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.
Spirit of the Americas was initiated in the hours and days after 9/11,
when Diageo and its employees provided numerous relief activities and
assistance. In December 2001, Diageo brought the first corporate humanitarian
airlift to war-torn Afghanistan by delivering more than 100,000 pounds of food
and emergency supplies to 800 orphans in Kabul.
In June of 2003, the company chartered a DC-8 cargo plane and delivered
more than 150,000 pounds of food, medicine and school supplies to Baghdad,
becoming the first American company to embark upon a humanitarian mission into
Iraq. In November of that year, Diageo provided more than 12,000 turkeys to
the Connecticut Food Bank so that 72,000 disadvantaged families could
celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Also in 2003, Diageo provided
financial aid to the victims of the California wildfires. In June 2004, the
Spirit of the Americas Airlift brought in and distributed emergency supplies
to flood victims in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Diageo's Spirit of the Americas Humanitarian Aid Missions is facilitated
by the Bridge Foundation, a nonprofit humanitarian aid and development
organization that provide humanitarian relief worldwide.
About Diageo
Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O) is the world's leading premium drinks business with
an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines,
and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff,
J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Beaulieu
Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines.
Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 200 countries around the
world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and
the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its
people, brands, and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com.
Celebrating life, every day, everywhere, responsibly.
SOURCE Diageo
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Related links:
http://www.diageo.com
CONTACT:
Gary Galanis of Diageo, +1-203-229-4643 -
phone, +1-203-247-4105 - mobile
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