US businessesmen send $43m for Haiti

Major US businesses have pooled at least 43 million dollars in cash and in-kind aid to help victims of Haiti's devastating earthquake, an association said Friday. The US Chamber of Commerce said the 43 million dollars includes contributions from at least 122 companies, with 22 of them donating one million dollars or more. The total includes US units of foreign companies, such as Nestle Waters North America, which contributed one million dollars. "It is amazing to see how many companies have responded to the urgency of this tragedy," said Stephen Jordan, senior vice president and executive director of the group' Business Civil Leadership Center. "We are encouraged by the early outpouring of support but we are well aware that this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. The business community stands ready to work with the authorities as the recovery process gets under way." The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of large US companies, said aid pledges from its members amounted to 17 million dollars, including one million dollars each from PepsiCo and Coca- Cola, which were offering bottled water and supplies in addition to cash. Other firms donating cash or supplies included McKesson, Merck, Procter & Gamble, ITT Corporation and Wal-Mart Stores. "Business Roundtable CEOs and our member companies are deeply saddened by the loss of life and infrastructure damage in Haiti," said Michael Dan, head of the Business Roundtable' s Partnership for Disaster Response. Scores of other US businesses have also donated cash or other forms of aid, and some have matched employee contributions.