Wal-Mart bashing seems to be the in thing, even in our suburb.  A gal wrote to the local newspaper making some claims about Wal-Mart's hurricane relief efforts that were false; part of a recent PR effort in our area to bash them.  I couldn't let it lie.

Get the Facts

In the September 22 issue of the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel, Linda Crump wrote to report how Wal-Mart treated their employees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  She belittled their donations to the relief effort and her implication was that the company failed to take care of their employees saying she had "heard" that the company kept their employees on the payroll for three days with no health benefits.

Ms. Crump failed to check her facts, or at least chose to speak half-truths.  The whole truth is that the company did provide their associates with immediate pay for the first three days after the hurricane, whether or not they were scheduled to work.  Further, the company provided cash assistance to more than 12,500 employees impacted by the storm.  Displaced employees are eligible for up to $1,000 from the Associate Disaster Relief Fund if their homes were flooded or destroyed.  Cash funding has helped employees with acquiring basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, etc.  Further, Wal-Mart waived medical and dental premiums during the initial pay period for hourly employees in affected areas.

Initially, more than 34,000 Wal-Mart employees were impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Using the company's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the set up of a Wal-Mart Emergency Information Line, the company has been in contact with 97.7% of those employees to verify that they are safe.  They established the line to answer employees' questions and concerns and it has fielded more than 28,000 calls and assisted in helping Wal-Mart provide more than $9.2 million thus far in financial needs to impacted employees.  They have been very proactive in verifying the safety of their employees asking the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to post flyers in their shelters, asking Wal-Mart and SAM'S CLUB employees to take a moment to call them on the Hotline. Further, many Wal-Mart employees who were evacuated were found by other employees in the Houston Astrodome and at the George R. Brown Convention Center walking around and holding signs at these locations to find them.

As Ms. Crump said, yes, some other employers may have indeed offered 90 days of pay for their affected employees however thanks to Wal-Mart's expansive network of stores, they had other alternatives.  Wal-Mart offered employment to any employee displaced by the storm at a store, club or distribution convenient to their new location.  Approximately 2,400 displaced employees thus far have relocated and now work at other stores.  Some relocated as far away as California and Nevada, but most are working in open stores in their home-state or states near the disaster area such as Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Florida.  In Louisiana alone, 323 displaced employees are now working in new Wal-Mart stores.  Rather than giving handouts, Wal-Mart did their employees one better – they ensured they were gainfully employed while recovering from this tragedy.

As for the corporate donations the company has made to the relief efforts, trying to minimize any contribution by saying it is a "tax write off" again over simplifies things and does not accurately portray corporate tax regulations.  It is not like the company simply writes off 100% of their donations.  Do you really think the government is going to foot the bill for all of these donations by refunding the money?  Is it really fair to look a gift horse in the mouth when a company makes such substantial donations?  And just what did Wal-Mart contribute?

• $17 million in cash donations to aid emergency relief efforts including $15 million to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, $1 million to the Salvation Army and $1 million to the American Red Cross.
• Provided $3 million worth of merchandise and in-kind donations throughout Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas to shelters and command centers.
• Provided more than $9.2 million in cash assistance to impacted employees.
• Gave $20,000 in cash donations to assists various animal shelters and organizations taking in lost animals in hurricane impacted areas.
• Has raised more than $7 million in public contributions made directly by customers at their stores across the nation. These dollars will be donated to emergency relief efforts.
• In Waveland, Miss., they set up a 16,000 square foot tent which will serve as the Wal-Mart.  This facility has 6 registers, a Connection Center (for cell phones), a Kodak digital kiosk, and a TLE for tire repairs.
• So far, 2,450 Wal-Mart truck loads have been dispatched to communities throughout the Gulf States and Texas, including 100 truckloads of donated merchandise.
• Wal-Mart has permitted its drivers and trucks in special instances to acquire and transport relief supplies, water, food and clothing donated by outside community members and organizations wanting to assist residents of Louisiana and Mississippi.
• 70 pallets of clothing were donated and shipped to World Vision's Gifts In Kind Warehouse in Dallas to help evacuees.
• Wal-Mart set up donation centers in various shelters to help arriving evacuees needing personal health and beauty products, clothing, diapers, wipes, tooth brushes, as well and food and water- all donated by Wal-Mart.  For example, at the Houston Astrodome, Wal-Mart also provided 5 trucks of relief supplies, 45 associate volunteers, and donated a computer, fax machine, TV, VCR and children's movies.
• At the George R. Brown Convention Center, Wal-Mart has delivered two trucks of merchandise including diapers, formula and undergarments.
• More than 150 Internet-ready computers were donated and delivered to shelters to help evacuees and families find each other via the Wal-Mart and Red Cross Web sites.
• Wal-Mart nationwide announced it would fill prescriptions, free of charge, to evacuees with emergency medicine needs and no money, even if they did not have a copy of their prescription.
• Provided products, free of charge, in hard hit areas, such as in Pass Christian and Waveland, Mississippi, where truckloads of water, ice and dry food were distributed to residents in conjunction with the National Guard.  A mobile pharmacy has also been established when the store could not open in Waveland.
• Wal-Mart offered free check cashing in approximately 126 stores in the hurricane disaster area for an initial two-week period.  This included government, payroll and insurance checks and computer-generated checks. 
• In-store Gift Registry kiosks were made available to victims to sign up for items needed so that others across the country could see those needs and assist in purchasing and sending items to those persons.
• Donated the use of 25 vacant facilities in impacted states for relief efforts.  Uses include evacuee shelters, supply depots, food pantry, a tent city for utility crews and even a dialysis clinic.  The company will pay utilities on these facilities while in use.
• Established one of the first online Emergency Contact Services to be accessed through any in-store kiosk and through the company's web sites, helping the public to locate and communicate with their friends and family members.  It has received more than 50,000 postings and more than 2.1 million visits.
• Similar to their efforts with Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart has stepped forward to support the community and those in need in Texas by contributing more than $1 million to Governor Perry's Hurricane Rita Fund.
• Wal-Mart has opened a store in Livingston, Texas and has provided resources to help feed 4,000 people in the area.
• So far, more than 370 Wal-Mart truck loads of merchandise, including 154 loads of gallon water (or approximately 621,000 gallons) have been dispatched to communities in Texas. 
• On Thursday, September 22, Wal-Mart delivered a truckload of water (which was donated by Cott) to Camp Gruber in Oklahoma, which is expected to have more than 3,000 evacuees previously staying at the Houston Astrodome.
• So far, 24 generators have been staged at Sealy, TX, and 42 facilities have been scheduled to receive dry ice. 

So rather than just throwing out random facts without verifying them Ms. Crump and others should do some research and look at the totality of the situation, before bashing any organization.  Wal-Mart has gone above and beyond in helping their employees and helping the public at large in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.  All in all, I would say they are one heck of a good neighbor and I am sure if in a similar situation as those affected by the hurricanes, Ms. Crump would be very happy to have this kind of support. 

Tony