[Press Release] CII Rushing Aid to Tsunami Stricken Samoa
Consolidators International (CII), the air freight wholesaler, is undertaking a massive effort to aid the tsunami-stricken population of Samoa and American Samoa.
CII is amassing tons of clothing both from its own resources and from hundreds of the wholesaler’s customers. The clothing, consisting primarily of apparel suitable for a tropical climate, will be assembled at CII’s Los Angeles warehouse and shipped in a 40′ container on the first available vessel sailing to the Islands.
Supervising the operation is Tony Feist, Vice President at CII’s Tuna Support division, specializing in air and ocean transportation for the tuna industry located in the western Pacific. Feist emphasized the clothing being collected is geared to the needs of a population in a hot, humid climate. “We are collecting T-shirts, shorts, thongs and other light, cool clothing that can be shipped in bulk and transferred quickly to the people most in need for immediate use,” stated Feist. He stressed all of the clothing collected for the stricken Samoan men, women and children is “new. We will not consider used clothing as they often are in poor condition and we have no knowledge of the health of the original wearers.”
Feist said that CII is moving the donated clothing via ship rather than air “because aircraft capacity is so limited. Also, there is damage to the airports so full operation is not feasible at this time. Via ship, we can move hundreds of tons of clothing with arrival in a few weeks.”
The Tuna Support Vice President said “hundreds of our forwarder customers have been notified by e-mail, fax and telephone of our efforts to aid the victims of the 8.0 earthquake and tsunami. The response has been excellent, and we are very gratified.”
Feist commented that he has developed many contacts with Samoans in his job supplying equipment to the tuna industry on the Islands. “We are working closely with these people, despite often poor communications, to coordinate our relief efforts with them. He noted the tuna industry is the largest civilian employer on American Samoa. “Almost all of the tuna canning facilities, which were built adjacent to the berths were the tuna boats dock, have been destroyed. It is a tragedy of enormous proportions for the people of Samoa,” he exclaimed. “CII is doing its best to help,” Feist concluded.
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