Survivors and Heroes Respond to Hurricane Katrina

Survivors and Heroes Respond to Hurricane Katrina

News of the incredible devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina prompted International Business Solutions Alliance (IBSA) affiliate Patrick Bush, president of Cleveland-based Bush Inc., to use his company's Web site to issue a call to action. He wanted to encourage others in the IBSA network to join his company in making a significant contribution to the American Red Cross. After all, among those in Katrina's destructive path were many fellow industry professionals, as well as members of the business communities that the independent supply channel serves.

Paul Edwards, president of Fenton, Missouri-based FormStore, had already made his own donation, but was further inspired when he saw Bush's challenge. After hearing people's stories and watching the news, Edwards began thinking that the American Red Cross just wasn't going to be able to do it all. He came up with the idea to create hygiene kits, school kits and "flood buckets"--five-gallon plastic buckets with lids that are filled with cleaning supplies--to ship into the affected areas. He eventually found a wholesale supplier for personal-sized amenities and a variety of sources for school supplies, and then set up an assembly line operation with members of the FormStore team. The hygiene kits consist of individual packs of facial tissues, toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, a comb, shampoo and bandages all placed on to a corrugated backing and then laminated. Similarly, pens, pencils, bookmarks, rulers, crayons, blank paper, small toys and little bags of candy were assembled into school kits. The original goal of 2,000 of each type of kit has been exceeded, and Edwards has already ordered supplies for 4,000 more.

Cleveland-based Proforma also has made a huge difference following Hurricane Katrina. Just ask franchise owner Cathy Boykin, a resident of Mobile County in Alabama who has been a Proforma distributor for more than 10 years. She was away attending a funeral when the hurricane hit,