Engaging businesses to respond to on-the-ground requests for food, transportation, and logistics expertise
Annapolis, November 2, 2012—The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is supporting Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and emergency management agencies across the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S. in their response to Superstorm Sandy. ALAN is engaging private industry and supply-chain companies to help fulfill needs of these disaster relief organizations during this time of great need.
Currently, relief agencies are posting urgent needs on the ALAN portal: http://www.alanaid.org/relief-needs.php. These include requests for food, transportation, water, and warehouse space. Businesses seeking to provide help can log onto the portal, view posted requests, and make offers of support.
To help the relief/recovery effort, this week ALAN was able to secure:
• A van and driver provided by CEVA Logistics to transport consumable medical supplies in New York City for the New York Hospital Association
• Transportation provided by UPS for cleanup kits from Louisiana and Utah to the Bronx, NY for the United Methodist Committee on Relief
• Situational awareness to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Business Emergency Operations Center on fuel, transportation impacts, and needs in the most severely affected areas
• Sources for high-capacity pumps to counteract severe flooding in New York and New Jersey
• Options for a major food donation to support the VOAD community
• A $10,000 grant from Food Shippers of America to send logistics volunteers to work with relief groups in New York and New Jersey
ALAN president Jock Menzies notes, “It is gratifying to see the ‘whole community’ relationships between the business, nonprofit, and government emergency response communities paying dividends for those in such dire circumstances.”
ALAN continues to post daily reports, including information on how individuals and businesses can obtain support, and the state of roadways and electrical service state-to-state. Please log onto http://www.alanaid.org/sandy-advisories.php for the latest reports.
About American Logistics Aid Network:
American Logistics Aid Network supports disaster recovery by engaging industry to address the unmet needs of relief organizations, communities, and people. ALAN makes supply chain related donation needs visible to the logistics industry and establishes an efficient process for providing the necessary goods and services through its web portal, www.ALANaid.org.
