While the generosity stemming from financial donations in the face of epic events like Hurricane Harvey in Texas should always be celebrated, it’s equally inspiring to see manufacturers put their product to use in the best possible ways.
Here are some examples of how U.S. manufacturers have pitched in to help their fellow Americans in a time of need.
- Wisconsin generator manufacturers Generac, Kohler, and Briggs & Stratton have been working around the clock to make sure they have products and parts in place to help people in the storm-ravaged regions of the Gulf Coast. Generac has three teams of two technicians each traveling to the disaster zone in vans loaded with parts and service equipment.
- Michigan is home to the world's largest kayak maker, KL Outdoor/GSC Technologies. The company is sending 2,000 of its personal watercraft (purchased by Walmart, but sent free of charge by the company) and donating 50 flat-bottomed fishing boats, called jon boats, that can carry multiple people and supplies to aid in rescue efforts.
- An Anheuser-Busch brewery in Georgia is shipping 155,000 cans of drinking water to the American Red Cross to help Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas and Louisiana. Anheuser-Busch says it periodically stops beer production throughout the year in order to can drinking water at the Georgia facility so it can be ready to go in times of need. The company says it has provided more than 76 million cans of drinking water for disaster relief since 1988.
- MillerCoors and can-maker Ball Corp. are also sending 50,000 cans of emergency drinking water to Houston. The water will be used at Red Cross shelters and distributed by volunteers.