Relief efforts for New Orleans

A large volume of donations are starting to come in for victims of Hurricane Katrina. From Bloomberg.com:

Katrina Donations Rise as Bush Taps Father, Clinton for Effort
Contributions for victims of Hurricane Katrina climbed to at least $82 million as President George W. Bush asked his father and former President Bill Clinton to lead a fund-raising effort.

Corporate giving made up a significant amount of the total, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, as companies from Abbott Laboratories to Johnson Controls Inc. pledge money and supplies. Jerry Lewis's annual Labor Day telethon will include celebrity appeals for Katrina victims and the Muscular Dystrophy Association plans to give $1 million to help.

"As people focus more on what needs to be done, clearly it's going to be one of the most significant philanthropic efforts that America has put together," said Evan Goldstein, a spokesman for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, leaving thousands homeless and causing an estimated $25 billion in damage. Bush plans to meet with the two men -- dispatched to lead tsunami relief efforts earlier this year -- later today, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Clinton and former President George H.W. Bush were appointed special envoys for the United Nations' for the tsunami recovery in Asia. The tsunami disaster left more than 290,000 dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean. Giant waves devastated coastal economies and prompted the largest multinational relief operation in history.

The article elaborates on some of the corporate aid:

Abbott pledged $2 million in cash donations and at least another $2 million in nutritional and medical products to help victims of the storm. Abbott said it is shipping cases of pediatric and adult nutritional products such as Similac infant formula, PediaSure and Pedialyte to the disaster area.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. said it has shipped more than 825,000 cans of drinking water to Katrina victims, and the Anhesuer-Busch Foundation is donating $250,000 to relief.

United Airlines carried 25,000 pounds of food and water and 50 emergency-medical technicians into New Orleans this morning on a relief flight, said spokeswoman Jean Medina. The flight is returning to Chicago this afternoon, she said.

Johnson Controls Inc. said it will donate $1 million to the Red Cross, as has Capital One Financial Corp.

Good deal. Goes to show that big corporations are not evil.