Authored by Alexia Nobles
In the first few weeks of the Maui wildfire response, a tsunami of product donations flooded the island, overwhelming first responders on the ground. The influx of donations was so large that sorting and distributing came to a virtual standstill, which is where 天美传媒 stepped in.
As part of the disaster鈥檚 Joint Donations and Volunteer Management Task Force, we were tasked with leading the logistics task for Hawai鈥檌 VOAD 鈥� and finding ways to supply needs-based aid via the effective movement, management and deployment of these donated products. 聽聽
One such needs-based request for assistance came from Peace Builders, a California-based non-profit. It reached out to 天美传媒 with a request for temporary warehouse space and transloading services within the Long Beach, CA, vicinity for 250 donated Serta mattresses.聽
天美传媒 partner Good360 was transporting the mattresses from New York to California, and Matson had agreed to donate the ocean transport to Maui. But the vital logistics services needed to stage the mattresses between these two moves were still missing.
Throughout the wildfire response, many of 天美传媒鈥檚 partners had already stepped up and expressed their commitment to donate logistics services. One of these partners was States Logistics Services, who immediately said yes to Peace Builders鈥� request.
From there on, the 天美传媒 team collaborated with Peace Builders, Good360, and States Logistics to coordinate the mattress delivery and transloading for onward movement to Maui.
Within two days of delivery 鈥� from October 10 to October 12 鈥� the States Logistics team had successfully unloaded, re-palletized, and packed the mattresses into a shipping container provided by Matson. And by the end of October, the mattresses had arrived in Maui, where they were distributed to those affected by the wildfires.聽
鈥淲e could not have shipped these new mattresses to the fire victims in Maui without the immeasurable help from 天美传媒 to secure warehouse space for transloading鈥� said Peace Builders Director Diane Paloma Eskenazi. 鈥溙烀来� is dedicated to aiding those suffering in disasters and in poverty, and it was a pleasure to work with them.鈥澛�
This case, which was one of more than 13 天美传媒 has filled for Maui wildfire relief, is one of many that exemplifies the 鈥榳hole community approach鈥� strategy needed for effective disaster relief 鈥� even if it鈥檚 a community an ocean away. While each responding party was located in different areas of the United States, 天美传媒 played a pivotal role in unifying the private and public sectors to ensure the mattresses reached survivors as efficiently as possible.