January 07, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, January 07, 2005

Local companies offer tsunami relief

By Jon Wiener

The worst natural disaster in decades has drawn the attention of Mountain View philanthropists, including large technology companies and inviduals.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that American citizens had already given $100 million to support survivors of the tsunami that ravaged Indian Ocean coastlines.

Local companies donating include Intuit, which had raised $250,000 by Tuesday morning, according to Allison Green, its corporate communication manager. The Mountain View-based company has pledged to double the contributions made by any of its employees. The money will be designated for recovery, relief and reconstruction, according to Green.

"People have just really been responding to the situation," she said. "The response has been extremely positive."

Johnson and Johnson, the parent company of Mountain View-based Alza, immediately committed $2 million and agreed to provide additional funds to match any employee donations to the Red Cross disaster response fund, according to Ellen Rose, corporate communications director.

Johnson and Johnson is also donating products and distributing "emergency medical relief modules" in Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia.

Google has also initiated a matching contribution campaign for its employees.

The company is helping in other ways, too. Many Web surfers interested in volunteering or donating have turned to the blogs run on Google servers. A prominent link on Google's main page, labeled "Ways to help with tsunami relief," went live on Dec. 28, two days after the initial disaster. It leads to a page where one can find the main blog as well as sites hosted by relief agencies.

Google spokesperson Debbie Frost said it is the first time the company has added such a link and hosted a separate page.

"We've never done anything like this before," said Frost. "The nearest thing that's similar is when we posted some links to some news sources just after Sept. 11."

Collections have also been taken up at the Mountain View Day Worker Center and the Sunday Farmer's Market.

Individuals who would like to contribute to the relief effort directly can send monetary donations only to American Red Cross International Response Fund, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013, or the Palo Alto Area Red Cross, 400 Mitchell Lane, Palo Alto 94301. Donations can be made online at the local Red Cross Web site at www.paarc.org, which also has updated information.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com