Starbucks, Amazon.com Among Companies Helping Tsunami Victims

Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee-shop chain, said it will donate $2 to South Asia relief efforts for every pound of Sumatra coffee it sells in the U.S. and four other Western countries next month.

In addition, the Seattle-based company will donate $100,000 to relief organizations, and its stores in Thailand gave all their profits yesterday to help victims of the earthquake and tsunamis that struck South Asia on Dec. 26. Dallas-based Kimberly- Clark Corp. said it's donating $100,000 in cash as well as health- care products to help survivors.

Starbucks and Kimberly-Clark join Amazon.com Inc., Coca-Cola Co., FedEx Corp. and Pfizer Inc. among U.S. companies that have taken steps to provide aid to more than 3 million people in Africa and Asia who are in need of food and medicine following this weekend's disaster. More than 80,000 people have died, with more than half of the fatalities in Indonesia.

"Over the next week, FedEx will be shipping approximately 200,000 pounds of medical supplies from the U.S. to both Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Jakarta, Indonesia," on behalf of four relief organizations, spokesman Ed Coleman said yesterday.

Amazon.com, the world's largest Internet retailer, had collected $3.5 million as of 11:30 p.m. New York Time through a link on its home page that lets customers make donations to the American Red Cross. Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft-drink distributor, said it is providing bottled water and other emergency supplies in Indonesia, India and Thailand.

$220 Million Pledged

Thousands of people are missing across the region, and deaths from diseases such as dysentery and cholera may mount unless clean water, food and shelter are provided soon, relief officials said. Governments pledged at least $220 million in cash and an equal amount in supplies, transport and military help, according to the UN.

New York-based Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, said yesterday it will donate $35 million in cash and medication, including its Zithromax, Zyvox and Diflucan anti-infectives, matching the aid the U.S. government has said it will provide.

Other U.S. companies that have announced donations include Citigroup Inc., the world's biggest financial services company, which said yesterday it will provide $3 million in aid. Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said it will provide $4 million in funding and prescription drugs and nutritional aid.

Cisco Systems Inc., whose equipment conducts 70 percent of the world's Internet traffic, said the San Jose, California-based company and its employees are donating at least $2.5 million to relief efforts. PepsiCo Inc. said it has allocated $1 million to relief work in the region.

Product Donations

Merck & Co., the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker, yesterday said it will make an initial donation of $250,000 to the American Red Cross and is in discussions with relief agencies to make a "substantial product donation," spokeswoman Anita Larsen said. The company will also match employee contributions.

Johnson & Johnson said earlier this week it is giving $2 million in cash and sending packages of supplies, including wound- care and pain-relief products. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has said it is donating $100,000 to the Red Cross and will send antibiotics such as its Tequin drug and other medicines to the region.

Wells Fargo & Co., Computer Associates International Inc., First Data Corp. and Symbol Technologies Inc. also announced donations in the last few days.

In addition to Amazon.com, other Internet businesses, including Google Inc., the most used Web search service, placed links on their sites for people wanting to make contributions.

"They're playing a huge role," American Red Cross spokeswoman Kara Bunte said. "Corporate partners like Amazon and MTV are coming to us and asking ways they can support our relief efforts."

Web Donations

Other Web companies, including Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN either collected donations or provided links to sites where people could make contributions. Mountain View, California- based Google made a rare exception to its policy of maintaining a Spartan main page by adding a link titled "Ways to help with tsunami relief" and giving it prominent display.

Time Warner Inc.'s America Online placed a highlighted link on its welcome page that allows members to make donations, spokesman Nicholas Graham said in an interview. AOL is also donating $200,000 to relief efforts, and the company is matching employee donations up to a total of $50,000, he said yesterday.

EBay Inc., the largest Internet marketplace, was working on how it could help in the best way, spokesman Hani Durzy said yesterday. He said the company's foundation will make a gift to relief efforts in Asia and EBay was informing sellers of ways they can place items up for sale with proceeds going to charitable organizations.