Unilever announces support package in response to the Christchurch earthquake

Unilever extends its thoughts and sympathies to those affected by the devastating earthquake in Christchurch.

Sebastian Lazell, Chairman Unilever Australasia, said; “We are extremely saddened by the devastation in Christchurch. Unilever has had a long presence in the area and many of our people and our customers there have been directly impacted by this event.”

“We’re working closely with the appropriate partners and teams on the ground to support the community and our customers during what will be a long recovery process. We know that our personal care and food products can play a very practical role at a time like this,” said Mr. Lazell.
Unilever has announced a support package which includes the following:

• A company cash donation of NZ$100,000 to the Red Cross 2011 Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.
• Matched employee payroll giving to both the Red Cross 2011 Christchurch Earthquake Appeal and Salvation Army Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.
• Donations of Lipton Iced Tea and Streets Ice Cream refreshments to evacuation centres, emergency service areas and residents involved in the cleanup and recovery efforts. In a four day period, Unilever handed out approximately 30,000 products.
• Donation of NZ$100,000 worth of products to help with a variety of needs, including donation of significant quantities of Bertolli Margarine and Dove Personal Wash products and Continental Soup to the Salvation Army; over 2,000 Rexona Roll-ons to the UC Student Volunteer Army and more than 1,500 boxes of Persil for the Fisher & Paykel community laundries to help provide free clothes washing facilities to the community
• An Employee Assistance Program counselling representative available at all Unilever sites in New Zealand.

Unilever is also keeping in close contact with customers to understand what support they need to help them restore their businesses as quickly as possible. We now have additional staff in Christchurch to help our customers in their stores, and to give our team some much needed support.