How Apple, Anheuser-Busch, and other companies are helping Harvey victims
Canned water, yogurt trucks, and free flights: Major companies across the country are improvising ways to help Houston flood victims as fallout from Harvey continues to devastate the area.
The storm and subsequent flooding have already killed at least eight people, displaced an estimated 30,000, and likely caused tens of billions of dollars worth of property damage.
Corporations like Budweiser-parent Anheuser-Busch, Walmart, and Duracell have opted to redirect business operations to play whatever small role they can in feeding, sheltering, and rescuing those affected. Many other companies have donated to the Red Cross's relief fund or vowed to match customers or employees who do so.
Here's a breakdown of everything corporate America is doing to provide aid:
Anheuser-Busch
The beer conglomerate's massive Georgia brewery put beer production on pause this week to churn out 50,000 cans of water for Red Cross shelters in Louisiana.
The company has done the same for other natural disasters in the past, including a spate of California wildfires and Hurricane Matthew.
Airbnb
The home rental service is waiving service charges for evacuees and urging nearby hosts to list accommodations for free. As of Monday afternoon, there were around 30 under-$10 listings near Houston.
Airbnb regularly does this for mass emergencies as part of a program it started during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
GoFundMe
The crowdfunding site has created a dedicated landing page for Harvey-related campaigns.
Tech giants
Apple has set up Red Cross donations pages in iTunes and the App Store. Amazon and Whole Foods said they'd match up to $1 million donated to the Red Cross through the Amazon site.
Google created a dedicated disaster response map and announced it would donate a $250,000 grant to the Red Cross and match another $250,000 from employees. Microsoft also said it would give the Red Cross an "initial grant" of $100,000.
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Facebook announced that it will match up to $1 million in donations to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund that are made through the center's Facebook Page.
Major cell carriers
T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T all said they would not charge people in the affected areas for cell service for now.
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Airlines
Dallas-based Southwest airlines gave 500 customers stranded in the shuttered Houston Hobby Airport a free flight out Sunday night.
Delta announced Monday that it will send a relief flight with supplies to the airport and evacuate more people.
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Walmart
The big-box chain has sent nearly 800 truckloads of supplies to affected areas and is expecting to ship around 1,700 more.
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Duracell
Duracell reps are in the area handing out free batteries.
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Chobani
The founder and CEO of the yogurt company said it was loading up trucks for the relief effort on Monday.
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Waste Management
Houston-based Waste Management is donating $3 million to the Red Cross.
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Patrick Kulp is a Business Reporter at Mashable. Patrick covers digital advertising, online retail and the future of work. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in political science and economics, he previously worked at the Pacific Coast Business Times.
