3PLs pledge support to devastated areas

Asia - UPS and DHL have stepped forward to pledge cash and kind to restoring the devastated areas in Myanmar and China.

UPS said it is contributing more than US$1 million (RMB 7 million) in cash and in-kind support to the earthquake relief efforts in China through it charitable arm, The UPS Foundation.

The company said it is making a cash donation of US$500,000 to the American Red Cross in support of Red Cross earthquake response efforts on the ground, led by the Red Cross Society of China. It has pledged an additional US$500,000 for in-kind support to aid the delivery of relief supplies.

UPS has earmarked a further US$50,000 for the China Charity Federation, a non-governmental humanitarian agency, for basic necessities including medicine, biscuits, clothing, quilts, drinking water and masks.

In Myanmar, UPS said it has expanded its support of relief efforts to include in-kind shipping and logistics support and expertise. The company will deploy a UPS supply chain expert to Thailand as part of the United Nation's Logistics Emergency Teams in support of the World Food Program's aid efforts to Myanmar.

In addition, the 3PL is providing an airplane to fly relief supplies from Utah to Thailand where they will be processed for transport to Myanmar.

DHL too, is lending its support to Myanmar through a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the UN/OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) to provide assistance from DHL's Disaster Response Team (DRT) Asia Pacific in Myanmar.

Under the MoU, DHL's Disaster Response Team will manage the common humanitarian warehouse identified by the UN, for three weeks. The facility is a 3,050sqm warehouse located 25 minutes from the Yangon airport. It will be a consolidation point for supplies directed through various NGOs in the country intended to benefit communities affected by Cyclone Nargis.

DHL's immediate tasks for the common humanitarian warehouse include engaging local workers for assistance, setting up communications for the site and restoring power at the facility so that staff can work through the night in shifts to distribute aid as swiftly as possible, the company said.

DHL set up three Disaster Response teams composed of volunteers who are experts in the areas of goods handling, warehouse management, inventory and customs in Singapore, Dubai and Miami, to cover regions mostly impacted by natural disasters.

The company also made a donation of RMB1 million to the earthquake relief efforts in China through its three business units in China, DHL-Sinotrans, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Exel Supply Chain. It said apart from the corporate initiatives, DHL's employees across china are also taking actions to help with disaster relief.