Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) announced today that the company and Ameren employees are giving $133,822 to help the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.
Over the past six weeks, Ameren employees have contributed approximately $54,411 to a company-wide matching gift program to help victims of the disaster. Ameren is not only contributing $25,000 to the American Red Cross for Haiti relief, but the company is also matching one-for-one any employee contributions made to organizations committed to Haiti relief, including the American Red Cross. Those contributions were made between Jan. 12 and Feb. 28, 2010. Of the total $54,411 in employee gifts, $37,611 is going to the American Red Cross, with the remainder going to other relief agencies.
"Our employees encouraged the company to create this program. Many of them are active volunteers and contributors to a range of organizations and have long experience responding to emergencies,” said Thomas R. Voss, president and chief executive officer of Ameren Corporation. "Some of our employees have visited or have contacts in Haiti, making our response even more relevant. We believed that it was critical that we do our part to respond to this unparalleled tragedy."
A media briefing today featured not only the delivery of the funds to the American Red Cross but also two company employees who are heading to Haiti this month to help. A veteran of 29 years service at AmerenUE, Robert M. Adair, Sr. (Bob Adair), of Edwardsville, Ill., is making his sixth overseas trip since 1993. A supervisor of Relay Test working at AmerenUE’s Dorsett location in West St. Louis County, Adair has been to Romania four times and to Nigeria to build housing and schools.
His son, AmerenCIPS Lineman Robert M. Adair, Jr. (Rob Adair), a resident of Granite City, Ill., is joining him for the first time this month for a week-long trip to Port-au-Prince to work at a school where 30 Haitian youth are educated, and many live. The school is under construction and the Adairs will be helping to convert the second floor of the school to a dorm that can house an additional 20 homeless boys. Both Adairs are skilled construction workers and ready to provide framing, wiring and plumbing – all to help provide shelter before the rainy season arrives in Haiti this spring. Both father and son are giving up vacation time to help and are making the trip with contributions to www.missionsinhaiti.com. Ameren matched funds contributed to this cause—helping support the Adairs’ in their mission.
Cynthia L. Erickson, MPA chief executive officer, American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter Red Cross, said volunteers like the Adairs are critical to the response in Haiti—as are the many contributors who support the cause.
“We thank Ameren and its employees for their great generosity. This gift is particularly appropriate now given Haiti’s great need," she added.
The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The St. Louis Area Chapter traces its beginning to 1884, when Red Cross founder Clara Barton came to St. Louis to provide disaster relief.
With assets of more than $24 billion, Ameren through its subsidiaries, serves 2.4 million electric and nearly one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Illinois and Missouri.
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Contact: Susan Gallagher 314-554-2175, Brianne Lindemann 314-554-2738