| Corporate America's war effort
Companies support the war effort with gifts of
cash,
calling cards, even canned chicken.
April 7, 2003: 2:33 PM EDT
By Sarah Max, CNN/Money Staff Writer
New York (CNN/Money) - It takes a lot to feed, clothe and
comfort an army.
With about 250,000 troops deployed in and around Iraq, the
amount of food, water, personal hygiene products and other stuff
consumed by soldiers each day is overwhelming.
So far, the U.S. armed forces have moved the equivalent of 150
super Wal-Mart stores from the United States to the Iraqi
battlefield, according to U.S. Central Command.
Although the American military provides men and women
stationed in the Gulf and elsewhere in the world with the basic
necessities, troops still crave creature comforts, like magazines,
compact discs, footballs and calling cards.
So with a flourish of
patriotism (and just a bit of
good old Yankee p.r.),
Corporate America is
chipping in with millions of
dollars in cash and goods
to help make life away from
home a little easier for the
troops.
Corporate donations to the
United Service
Organizations (USO), a
non-profit organization that
provides morale, welfare
and recreational services
to the military, have
increased significantly
since the start of the war.
Among the USO's largest
benefactors are
Amazon.com, Anheuser-Busch,
AT&T, BAE
Systems, Clear
Channel, Coca-Cola and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
When old-fashioned care packages won't do
Until recently, troops received morale-boosting letters via
programs like Operation Dear Abby and care packages through
the Any Service Member Campaign. But following the attacks of
September 11, 2001, both of these programs were suspended for
security reasons.
The military can only accept parcels addressed to a specific
person, and even then there may be restrictions on what can and
cannot be included in the packages and under what conditions
they will be delivered.
These days, troops are given words of encouragement via the
e-mail version of Operation Dear Abby. Company commanders
print the messages and distribute them to troops.
Anyone who wishes to send a care package to a service member
they don't know is asked to do so by donating to organizations
like the USO, which assembles and distributes care packages paid
for by individuals and corporations. The contents of the packages
vary but typically include such things CDs, magazines, toiletries
and sunscreen.
Currently the troops receive the packages while they're still in the
country, just before they're deployed. "We have not sent a care
package overseas to date," said Diane Rogers, director of
corporate donations for the USO world headquarters. The USO is
now adapting their care packages for troops who are already
overseas.
So far, 40,000 USO care packages have been delivered to troops
and 50,000 more will soon be bound for U.S. Central Command.
To date, Lowe's has donated $250,000 specifically to the care
package program, as well as issues of its Nascar fan club
magazine "Track Record."
America Online (which is owned by CNN/Money's
parent company,
AOL Time Warner) has donated $72,000
and 45,000 music CDs.
World Wrestling Entertainment has donated
copies of its
magazine, Bonnie Bell cosmetics has
kicked in 50,000 tubes of
chapstick, and Quilted Northern has
contributed baby wipes.
Troops being deployed in the coming weeks will get an extra
special send off. Tyson Foods has donated
more than 70,000
pounds of canned chicken and chicken-salad kits to Fort Hood,
Texas and Hampton Roads, Virginia for service members to take
along with them.
What troops really need now
Prepaid calling cards are in great demand for homesick troops.
In March, AT&T said it is donating
160,000 prepaid phone cards
-- worth $3 million -- to troops in Iraq, to be distributed by the
USO. According to AT&T, men and women stationed in the Gulf
can call home for 30 cents a minute if they use prepaid cards
designed for international calls.
Harris Teeter's, a supermarket chain
on the East Coast, plans to
donate 20,000 calling cards as well. The chain is selling American
flags and using the proceeds to help fund the $20 calling cards.
(Individuals can donate calling cards via the USO's Operation
Phone Home or Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation's Operation
Uplink.)
Supplies for hospitals along the way
While prepaid calling cards and care packages are welcomed, the
USO says it is desperately looking to replenish supplies on bases
in Germany, which are passing through points for deployed
troops, as well as for Germany's Landstuhl Regional Medical
Center, the military's largest hospital overseas. (In yet another
example of corporate do-gooding, the H.J. Heinz
Co. flew the
parents of former POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch to Landstuhl in the
company's Gulfstream jet this past weekend.)
"We're looking for donations of clothing because a lot of the
injured are coming in with only the clothes on their back or no
clothes at all. We are also looking for shoes, entertainment items
and food donations," said Rogers, adding that the Department of
Defense requires that such products come directly from
manufacturers and in many cases in sealed packaging.
In response to this latest request for supplies in Germany, Krispy
Kreme has donated coffee pots, stirrers and coffee, Bookspan
has
donated 10,000 books, Caesar's Palace
has donated compact
discs and playing cards and Luxottica, maker
of Ray-Bans, has
donated 3,800 pairs of sunglasses.
The USO's wish list is long and growing. Still needed are mints,
energy bars, microwave popcorn, board games, large-screen
televisions, magazines, pens, toothpaste and toothbrushes, wet
wipes, deodorant and numerous other supplies.
Of course, added Rogers, companies -- and individuals -- can
also do their part by simply writing a check. Visit the USO site for
details.
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