Clorox Sends Bleach to Help in Ebola Fight
By Naomi Greer
Like so many others, Clorox employees have been following the news recently, eager to help with the growing public health crisis in West Africa. We have a product recommended to help prevent the spread of viruses like Ebola, but how do we get it to the people who need it thousands of miles away — and make sure they understand how to use it properly?
This week our company took a first step, donating 12,000 64-ounce bottles of Clorox® bleach destined for West Africa. Employees at the Aberdeen, Maryland, plant and distribution center, which manufactured and packed the product, were enthusiastic about the donation and proud to support the fight against Ebola.
“It was a pleasure and honor to help in some small way,” said Tony Dramis, who worked with the Aberdeen team from the company’s logistics operations center in Alpharetta, Georgia, to coordinate the effort, “but the folks in the field are the heroes.”
The donation was made possible through a partnership with AmeriCares, a U.S. nonprofit organization based in Stamford, Connecticut. After receiving the shrink-wrapped, palletized product from our Aberdeen facility, AmeriCares will, in turn, ship it to West Africa, where it will be distributed along with educational materials to healthcare workers in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Unfortunately, the threat from Ebola is far from over. Just this week, President Obama announced a major increase in the U.S. response to the outbreak. Already, 2,400 people in West Africa have died from the virus and thousands more are infected. As a company, we are continuing to explore longer-term partnerships that will allow us to contribute to global efforts to eradicate this disease.
Clorox employees Carl Tucker, Dominick Butindaro and Edward Davis from our Aberdeen, Maryland, plant help prepare a Clorox® bleach donation headed to West Africa to help in the fight against Ebola.