Elmsford, NY— As a leader in the healthcare laundry industry, Unitex has always made community service and humanitarian aid big parts of its company culture. Now, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and in anticipation of Hurricane Irma, Unitex has begun to coordinate humanitarian efforts with local and regional organizations to support hurricane victims and their communities.
Unitex has partnered with John Iannuzzi, the founder of the Shelter and Rescue Partnership, an organization made up of 60 primary and direct animal rescues, shelters, and sanctuaries that support over 75,000 animals a year. Three Unitex plants in the Northeast (Mt Vernon, NY; New Brunswick, NJ; and Linden, NJ) have collected and distributed more than 3,000 pads that will be donated to shelters for use with displaced animals in Houston and the surrounding areas. Additional pads were also collected for delivery to Florida in preparation for animal relief in the communities hit by Hurricane Irma.
“I was helping out locally for about 3 weeks with both humanitarian and animal response after Hurricane Katrina hit in New Orleans,” said John Iannuzzi. “Sadly, the situation in Houston and surrounding areas is much worse. This hurricane has affected over 15 million people and 4 million animals, and with Hurricane Irma making its way to Florida, our help may be needed elsewhere. We are grateful to Unitex for the quick response to help us in a time of need and are thankful for the 500,000 pads they have donated to our organization to date.”
In addition to the support of the Shelter and Rescue Partnership, Unitex has also committed to helping Northwell Health as it sends a team of Long Island-based healthcare providers to Houston to relieve doctors and nurses at the city’s premier cancer center. Unitex has donated scrubs to this group to help with its effort.
“We are beyond devastated with what is going on in Houston, and are preparing for the worst in Florida,” said David Potack, President of Unitex. “In a time of need like this, it’s crucial for everyone to come together and lend a helping hand not only for people, but animals, too. For years, Unitex has worked with John and the Shelter and Rescue Partnership and we admire what he does in these tough situations. The same applies to the team at Northwell Health and others who are taking a stand to do the right thing for those in need. We are happy to be a part of that, always.”
In the main picture:
(The SPCA of Westchester, working with John and the Shelter and Rescue Partnership, picks up pads donated from Unitex to deliver to animals in need.)
(Rocco Susi, VP Healthcare Services, Unitex; Don Ophalis , Associate VP, Northwell; Ann Cronin, Director Infection Control, Northwell and the rest of the team worked together quickly and efficiently to ensure the scrubs were ready for the team headed to Houston).