(Source: CSX press release, February 13, 2013)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When the American Red Cross needed to return the Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) used in Superstorm Sandy to home chapters across the country, the agency turned to CSX and other railroads for help.
To prepare for the free movement on CSX of 119 ERVs, from which thousands of meals were handed out to victims of Sandy, the Red Cross staged the ERVs at a central point in New Jersey. From there, they were loaded into rail cars designed specially to transport them on CSX to their home states in the Southeast or Midwest, or to other railroads to take back to locations in the West.
This joint CSX-Red Cross effort is the latest in a five-year disaster relief partnership that builds on CSX’s support of the Red Cross for more than 25 years. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, CSX matched employee donations to the Red Cross dollar-for-dollar.
The company also provided more than $1 million of support through Dignity U Wear, a program to supply new clothing to needy children and families, and worked with customers to reroute rail shipments of building materials to areas most in need. CSX also is moving substantial amounts of construction and demolition debris from the storm-impacted area to approved disposal sites.