Footwear sector rallies to US attack recovery effort
Donations of footwear for US emergency workers were last week pouring in from many of the country's best known brands.
Among the first to announce a contribution was the safety footwear manufacturer Footwear Specialties International of Portland, Oregon, which provided over 500 pairs comprising its Nautilus and Third Watch brands. Another company to respond quickly to the relief effort was the industrial footwear and protective equipment manufacturer, La Crosse Footwear, also of Portland. Its donation comprised 500 pairs of knee boots as well as a ‘significant supply’ of rain pants and coats.
Virtually all the major athletic footwear brands responded to the terrorist attacks in one way or another. Nike gave over its website homepage to the American Red Cross whilst visitors to the Reebok website were met with an expression of condolence to the victim’s families. A similar message was carried on the home page of the leather retailer Wilsons Leather.
Not that the relief effort was limited to the footwear and retail sectors. Tyson Food’s, the parent group to the red meat packer, IBP, provided the American Red Cross and Salvation Army with 350,000 chicken portions for emergency crews whilst the agricultural distributor Cargill contributed an initial $100,000 to the American Red Cross. Cargill also said it would match contributions made by its employees.
The mood of the response effort was summed up by Wayne Elsey, Chief Excutive of Footwear Specialties who said:
"These pairs will be distributed in an attempt to keep the employees and volunteers safe during their grim job ahead of them. Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of the victims of the recovery teams."
