Logistics Firms Support Good Works

The logistics division of DHL and Health Partners International of Canada announced a shipment of 750,000 doses of vaccines were on their way to aid children in Uzbekistan. The humanitarian effort was spearheaded by UNICEF, sanofi-aventis Group, a leading medical aid agency in Canada.

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-ventis, donated the single doses of vaccine to Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC) which, in turn, provided the vaccines to UNICEF for use this winter in a vaccination program for the children of Uzbekistan.

The program will immunize children under hte age of two against pertussis (whooping cough), diphtheria, tetanus, and polio.

LifeConEx, a joint venture with DHL Global Forwarding and Lufthansa Cargo, handled the climate-controlled shipment. The vaccines had to remain in a range of +2 degrees to +8 degrees Centigrade at all times, noted Jeremy Shrubbs, Director of Business Development, Lifescience, with DHL Global Forwarding.

Elsewhere, employees of Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico provided gifts and snacks to the children of La Esperanza School at its annual Christmas party. La Esperanza School provides educational services to 250 children with varying degrees of cognitive disabilities.

"We started our community outreach program by adopting La Esperanza School seven years ago," said Gabriel Serra, senior vice president and general manager for Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico.

Troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait will have more than 30,000 minutes with family and friends via telephone as a result of a donation to the American Red Cross. TransCore's Fleet Trailer Tracking Division made the donation that will provide the troops with AT&T Global Calling Cards.

"We were looking for a way to create a tie-in with our product and a worthy cause," said David Schrader, TransCore's vice president of marketing, commercial technology group. "The donation was based on taking a portion of the monthly air-time TransCore trailer tracking customers spend and contributing it to the calling card program," he explained.

The company hopes its donation will spark others to join in a program operated by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) -- "Help Our Troops Call Home." From the AAFES Web site (www.aafes.org) donations can be made for Global Prepaid Phone cards which are distributed by the Red Cross to service men and women.