Local Organizations Raise Funds for Tsunami Victims
Answering the global call to help the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in late December that has killed approximately 150,000 people, several California apparel companies said they will donate funds and clothes totaling millions of dollars.
Gap Inc., the San Francisco company that owns Banana Republic, Old Navy and the label of the same name, said its charitable foundation will donate $1 million throughout 2005 to relief organizations, including Care, UNICEF and the American Red Cross, in order to help recovery in Southeast Asia and East Africa. Gap also said it will match 2 for 1 contributions made by its employees during the month of January to designated relief organizations. A spokesperson for Gap declined to comment on how the donations will impact corporate finances.
Von Dutch Originals LLC said it will donate all profits coming from specially made T-shirts to Operation USA for emergency medical supplies and medical care. Von Dutch Marketing Director Chris Detert said the Los Angeles company sold $30,000 worth of goods in the first four days that it offered the $29–$34 T-shirts in its stores and on its Web site. Detert declined to disclose the exact percentage of sales that the profits will make up.
Richard Clareman, president of Self Esteem in Montebello, Calif., said the juniors and childrenswear manufacturer will give 10,000 shirts, pants and other garments to the Sri Lankan American Business Council, which in turn will distribute the items to the survivors. “Better on their backs than in our warehouse,” he said.
SurfAid International, a nonprofit organization focusing on helping the Mentawai Islands near Sumatra, Indonesia, said it will coordinate medical staff in its Padang office to help control the outbreak of malaria, typhoid and cholera. The Quiksilver Foundation, founded by Huntington Beach, Calif.–based surfwear maker Quiksilver Inc., will help fund SurfAid’s efforts.
A spokesperson for Quiksilver said the company established a new fund called the Nias Fund specifically for tsunami relief. The fund has more than $100,000, the spokesperson said.
Celebrities are also fund raising through fashion. Actors Jane Kaczmarek and Bradley Whitford said proceeds raised from the upcoming Clothes Off Our Back Golden Globe auction will benefit the UNICEF Tsunami Relief Fund. Kaczmarek and Whitford—who founded the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation, which focuses on children’s charities—are encouraging celebrities, designers and stylists to donate gowns, tuxedos and anything that has been worn to a previous ceremony or will be worn to the Golden Globe Awards, to be held on Jan. 16.
