N.J. business community pitches in for Sandy relief

The business community is donating millions of dollars and pitching in to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Following are some of the relief efforts underway.

• JPMorgan Chase pledged up to $5 million, including $2 million to the American Red Cross and up to $2 million in donations to local agencies.
• Hess Corp. is giving $5 million to relief efforts in New York and New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy, including $2.5 million to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund under the direction of Gov. Chris Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie.
• Johnson & Johnson is committing more than $5 million in products and financial relief. The New Brunswick health care company is donating hygiene kits distributed by AmeriCares mobile clinics in hard-hit areas of New Jersey, and the company is matching donations by employees.
• The Prudential Foundation is donating $3 million to nonprofits that include the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.
• Ridgefield Park-based Samsung Electronics North America is pledging $3 million to the American Red Cross via ABC TV’s “Day of Giving,” with viewer donations matched by the company up to $3 million; in addition, the company is matching employee gifts.
• Wells Fargo donated $1 million, with $250,000 going to the American Red Cross and $750,000 to nonprofits providing grassroots relief. Most of the bank’s 12,000 ATMs in the U.S. can accept donations to the American Red Cross.
• The Bank of America Charitable Foundation is donating $1 million, including $500,000 to the American Red Cross, and will provide unlimited matching of employee gifts.
• Capital One Bank is committing $1 million to Hurricane Sandy relief. Capital One will also provide $600,000 in grants to aid in the longer-term recovery efforts in New York and New Jersey.
• CitiBank’s Citi Foundation donated $1 million to the American Red Cross and delivered several truckloads of food, water and supplies to hard-hit communities in New Jersey.
• ExxonMobil is donating $1 million to disaster relief in New Jersey, New York and the Caribbean.
• The Procter & Gamble Mobile Relief Center is providing showers and household products, including Pampers diapers, in Union Beach and Eatontown.
• Taylor Management Co. of Whippany is delivering $10,000 in food and supplies to senior citizens in the Lakewood area.
• Parsippany-based T-Mobile is providing cell phones with unlimited domestic calling services and additional phone chargers to all American Red Cross shelters in New Jersey, and expects American Red Cross donations by the company and its customers will exceed $300,000.
• Aetna is mobilizing employee volunteers to assist relief efforts. Aetna’s specialty pharmacy team is reaching out to members who were expecting shipments of specialty or biotech medications, redirecting shipments to alternate locations, and providing replacement prescriptions. The Aetna Foundation is giving $100,000 to relief organizations.
• Macy’s is asking its customers nationwide to join to help raise $1 million for the American Red Cross, at the store registers and online. Disaster victims are eligible for a Macy’s special savings voucher valid for 20 percent off regular, sale and clearance priced items and 10 percent off furniture.
• UPS is donating $250,000 in logistical aid for urgent response and an additional $1 million in cash and in-kind support to relief organizations.
• The Western Union Foundation Agent Gift Match Program will donate up to $400,000. The program matches one-for-one donations by Western Union’s money transfer agents, including $100,000 by the Rite Aid Foundation.
• FedEx Corp. is giving $1.2 million in cash and in-kind transportation to the relief effort.
• IDT Energy of Newark is giving $50,000 to the American Red Cross, and offering a $25 rebate on electric service to qualified IDT Energy customers.
• TD Ameritrade is giving up to $500,000 to the American Red Cross.
• The MetLife Foundation gave $1 million to Sandy relief.
• Target Corp. is donating $425,000 in cash and in-kind donations to the American Red Cross, $50,000 in cash donation to the Salvation Army and $25,000 in gift cards to local Target stores to help in communities impacted by Sandy.
• Kohl’s Department Stores gave $1 million to the American Red Cross.
• The Wayne-based Toys”R”Us Children’s Fund donated $500,000 to Save the Children, which will provide children and families in evacuation shelters with such needed items as hygiene kits, diapers, and baby wipes.
  
• Birdsall Services Group of Eatontown won’t be hosting its annual party during the now-cancelled League of Municipalities convention, and instead is donating the $35,000 in event costs to hurricane relief efforts in the shore area.
  
• The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is donating  $1 million to the American Red Cross North Jersey Chapter, the Salvation Army New Jersey Division, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, and the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Fund. In addition, the foundation will match employee donations to those organizations on a three-to-one basis.
  
• The Verizon Foundation will match $1 million being raised by customers through the Verizon “Text to Donate” program to the American Red Cross.   Verizon Wireless customers can make a $10 donation by texting REDCROSS to 90999.  The foundation is also donating $200,000 to nonprofit agencies in New Jersey and New York that are assisting with local efforts, and  providing a 2-to-1 match of employee online donations to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
  

Also, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association provides comprehensive disaster recovery information for businesses at its website, www.NJBIA.org.