Disaster Relief and Recovery
The Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation changes lives and renews communities by supporting safe shelter and emergency relief programs, primarily in our operating communities. Grants for disaster response have been used to renovate homes damaged by hurricanes in the Gulf region, upgrade fire equipment, and improve medical and fire communication services.
Hurricane Katrina
This one-of-a-kind program involved Weyerhaeuser volunteers in everything from hanging sheetrock to installing plumbing to removing debris. Employees partnered with North Carolina Baptist Men, a faith-based volunteer group with a mission to rebuild more than 600 homes in the Gulfport, Mississippi, area.
- Nearly 300 Weyerhaeuser volunteers came from throughout North America to the Gulf Coast through the loaned-employee program. Weyerhaeuser Company covered salaries plus travel costs for employees who participated in rebuilding projects.
- Volunteers repaired, rebuilt, or built homes for more than 50 employees, retirees, and other community members, volunteering more than 45,000 hours.
- 128 employee and retiree families were assisted through our disaster relief programs, and all have been resettled in their own homes.
- Weyerhaeuser's and the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation's disaster relief efforts for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita totaled more than $2.8 million, including efforts through the Adopt-A-Family, Employee-2-Employee, and Loaned-Employee programs; more than $1 million donated to relief agencies; and $275,000 in building materials donated to the Baptist Builders and others.
- Weyerhaeuser dedicated a disaster relief coordinator to the effort and developed and shared publicly an employer's guide to helping employees in a disaster.
- Weyerhaeuser received the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership at a White House ceremony for our contributions to the hurricane recovery effort.
"As the weeks and months go by, people and communities will continue to feel the effects of Hurricane Katrina. We'll continue to hear stories of how this storm has forever changed the lives of individuals and the places they live. On a more heartening note, we're also hearing about the many acts of generosity and courage taking place all across the region, including those of Weyerhaeuser people." — Steve Rogel, Chairman and CEO
Kashmir Earthquake
When a devastating earthquake hit a remote region of Kashmir, the people who live there were suddenly facing a harsh winter without shelter. In most cases, tents provide the easiest and cheapest solution for temporary refuge. But in a mountainous region where temperatures often sink to well below freezing, tents just wouldn't suffice.
Luckily, Weyerhaeuser—in partnership with Global Village Shelter LLC in Morris, Connecticut—makes a 67-square-foot Tri-Wall® structure that, while not luxurious, can keep a family alive. The triple-wall, corrugated containerboard structures are treated for water- and fire-resistance and, most important, can be warmed by fire or small stoves. We donated 500 Global Village Shelters to the tremor-traumatized region.
An all-volunteer group of New York City emergency medical workers traveled there to help set the shelters up. The huts have been used during other natural disasters, too—in the aftermath of hurricanes in Grenada and during the rebuild effort following Hurricane Katrina.
Last updated Oct. 10, 2007.
