Firestone Natural Rubber Company Extends Cargo Donation Program Through 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., and HARBEL, Liberia, West Africa (Nov. 7, 2008) — Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC announced today that it will extend its cargo donation program through 2009.
“Week after week we receive new applications from charitable organizations wanting to help the people of Liberia,” said Dan Adomitis, President of Firestone Natural Rubber Company. “Their generosity combined with Liberia’s need for humanitarian aid has convinced us here at Firestone that this program will continue to have a great impact over the coming year.”
Firestone provides space on its ships for relief goods and other donated cargo from U.S.-based charitable organizations to help rebuild Liberia after its 14-year civil war. Since 2006, when the cargo donation program was formalized, more than 60 shipments have fulfilled the program’s approval requirement and been scheduled for
shipping to the port of Monrovia. Fifteen 20-foot containers of medicine, food, generators, building materials and other supplies have been shipped so far this year, with several more scheduled for late 2008.
One shipment this year, sent by Indianapolis, Ind.-based College Park Church, included plastic pipe and water pumps being used at Bethesda Christian Mission School in Monrovia. “With Firestone, you have confidence that your shipment will arrive in a timely manner and in good shape,” said Ardie Bucher, a church member who has traveled to Liberia three times since the organization began shipping containers annually in 2005. “It is a great program.”
Cargo space is available to qualified charitable organizations with the ocean freight expense covered by Firestone. Under the program,each Firestone ship en route from Baltimore, Md., to the port of Monrovia in Liberia will reserve several containers’ worth of space for relief goods and other donated cargo. Firestone accepts containers of non-perishable foods, medical supplies, new and used clothing, schoolbooks and other relief goods and delivers them to Liberia on behalf of the donor charity.
Charitable organizations interested in shipping items to Liberia can download an application from the company’s Web site, www.FirestoneNaturalRubber.com, and e-mail it to donationcargo@firestonenaturalrubber.com with a scanned copy of its 501(c)(3) documentation.
About Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC:
The Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC traces its origins back to 1926 when The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company first established a natural rubber production facility in Liberia, West Africa. The company operates a 118,000-acre rubber growing and processing facility, employing approximately 7,000 teammates who harvest and process natural rubber and latex. After processing, the natural rubber (dry rubber and liquid latex) is shipped to the United States. The dry rubber is used by Bridgestone Americas’ (BFDP’s parent company) tire plants throughout North America in the manufacture of tires. The latex is sold to third party North American manufacturers of dipped goods, adhesives and carpet backing. Firestone is North America’s leading supplier of natural latex concentrate. The Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Firestone Diversified Products (BFDP).