Walmart Stores Inc. (WMT) committed to up to $20 million to help areas hit by Harvey.
“Our Texas family of customers and associates are experiencing devastating impact from this storm,” Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement on Wednesday, Aug. 30. “We are on the ground to help our friends and neighbors in the Gulf region and we’ll continue to be in the tough days, weeks and months ahead.”
As part of the commitment, Walmart said it will match any customer donation it gets two to one of up to $10 million in cash and products to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Product donations include necessities such as water, infant formula and personal hygiene products, plus “comfort” items for shelters, including stuffed animals, televisions and DVDs.
The remaining $10 million will be distributed to the Salvation Army, Feeding America, Convoy of Hope, Team Rubicon and the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation.
Walmart executives, from its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., have been tracking the storm since it was predicted. Company spokesman Ragan Dickens told TheStreet on Tuesday, Aug. 29, that the big-box retailer has been monitoring impacted stores, from its emergency operations center in Bentonville, to ensure employees are safe and store shelves are stocked as well as possible.
In Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Dickens said stores were beginning to be reopened and stocked with necessities. Walmart deployed 1,060 emergency trucks to Harvey-affected areas during the storm, with 937 of them carrying only crates of bottled water.