American Furniture Manufacturers Spearhead Hurricane Floyd Emergency Relief Effort For Home Furnishings

Furniture World Magazine

A campaign initiated by members of the American Furniture Manufacturers Association (AFMA) to provide new furniture for flood victims of Hurricane Floyd has generated the largest donations warehouse emergency relief effort in the state of North Carolina and one of the largest in the nation. Responding immediately after the natural disaster that ravaged eastern North Carolina in September 1999, these leading producers of domestic home furnishings contributed more than 7,000 pieces of upholstery, bedroom, dining room and occasional pieces - valued at $4 million at cost - to the cause. The items are currently being transferred from a storage facility in Raleigh, N.C., operated by the N.C. Emergency Management Division, to regional staging areas throughout eastern North Carolina for distribution to needy families identified by the Salvation Army and other local charitable organizations. In addition to the donated furnishings and transportation service to deliver the items to the warehouse, AFMA members contributed a significant amount of money and supplies to assist families whose homes were destroyed or damaged. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regional Director John B. Copenhaver praised the effort, and noted that this is one of the largest initiatives of its type ever taken. "This is a great partnership between AFMA, NC-DEM and the Salvation Army. Their efforts will certainly lessen the burden of the disaster recovery for many eastern North Carolina flood victims." In a letter to Douglas Brackett, executive vice president of AFMA, North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt Jr. wrote, " I want you and everyone at the American Furniture Manufacturers Association to know how grateful I am to you for assisting flood victims in eastern North Carolina. The new furniture, money and supplies that AFMA-member-companies are donating will benefit many whose homes were destroyed or damaged.... The outpouring of support from individuals and organization all across the country has been truly inspiring."' "This is the largest donations warehouse operations ever undertaken by the Emergency Management Division," said Crime Control & Public Safety Chief Deputy Secretary William Dudley. "It speaks well of the dedication and determination of all those involved, and is a shining example of the cooperative spirit that exist, especially here in North Carolina."