Logistics firms, non-profits unite to send donated US relief supplies to Turkish earthquake survivors
Maersk, The UPS Foundation/Coyote Logistics, Good360, Lift Nonprofit Logistics, and the Kale Foundation join forces in transporting humanitarian aid to Türkiye
A humanitarian aid and logistics chain was created to convey the privately-donated U.S. relief goods which will be transported by both truck and air to the afflicted area
Around 440 pallets of US-donated relief goods are being transported to Türkiye in response to the two powerful earthquakes which struck the region on February 6th with a 7.8 magnitude, and hours later a 7.7 magnitude.
A humanitarian aid and logistics chain was created to convey the privately-donated U.S. relief goods which will be transported by both truck and air to the afflicted area. The relief goods include clothing, bedding, diapers, wipes, food, KIND bars, first aid kits, hygiene care, feminine care items, tents, and solar power lights.
Good360 is distributing the donated items from U.S. companies: Amazon, Hello Bello, Nice-Pak, KIND, CVS Health, AmerisourceBergen, Cora, LuminAID, Coyuchi, Sew Purposeful, YouGiveGoods (Fidelity), and NPO partners Hands in Service and United Way of Lee County.
The goods were moved by 12 UPS trailer trucks from LIFT Non-profit Logistics in Jacksonville, Florida to Maersk Air Cargo’s facility at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in South Carolina. The cargo was then repacked for flights to Germany on Maersk Air Cargo’s daily Boeing 747 cargo service to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.
Five consecutive daily flights were used to transport the entire shipment. In Germany, the goods will be placed into 20 trailer trucks for the 8-10 day inland transportation to Türkiye. Finally, Good360 partner, the Kale Foundation, will distribute these critically needed items to survivors in the region.
Maersk Air Cargo donated the air freight capacity using the company’s Greenville-Spartanburg/Frankfurt-Hahn daily Boeing 747 service.
John Wetherell, Head of Maersk Air Cargo’s North America region said, "We’re honored to help the Turkish people who are recovering from this disaster and work with our logistics and non-profit partners on this important shipment. It's just the right thing to do and ties in nicely with our purpose to improve life for all by integrating the world. Our expanding fleet of cargo jets and hubs will continue to ensure our humanitarian airlift capabilities serve our customers and partners in the future."
Coyote Logistics supported this collaborative relief effort by helping arrange the domestic freight transportation services for donated goods. With a long history of leading philanthropic supply chain projects, Coyote is uniquely positioned to quickly mobilize humanitarian logistics expertise, on-site support, and capacity from its reliable carrier network.
"Projects like this show the power of supply chain experts and providers working together to maximize our collective impact," said Zach Gilstrap, Humanitarian Logistics Manager at Coyote Logistics. "We’re proud to support the delivery of critical aid to Türkiye with our global logistics capabilities, and express our gratitude to all the generous organizations that donated supplies."
"Owning and operating our own air fleet now gives us an element of control and capacity that allows us to better flex to the inherent time-pressed nature of disaster relief," Fred Patterson, Head of Maersk’s Aid & Relief North America team said on the development.
Good360, the global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving, facilitated many of the donations by working closely with their corporate donors and nonprofit partners to secure the items for shipment. The organization, which has deep disaster recovery experience and is now in its 40th year, leveraged strong relationships with key logistics partners to help facilitate this humanitarian effort.
"We are thankful for this massive collaboration with terrific partners like Maersk, The UPS Foundation, Coyote Logistics, Lift Nonprofit Logistics, and the Kale Foundation for their role in getting humanitarian aid to Türkiye," said Jim Alvey, Good360’s Vice President of Disaster Recovery. "Additionally, we are so fortunate to have generous corporate donors who make this all possible by providing the essential items needed to help those affected by the earthquakes rebuild their lives."
LIFT received and consolidated Good360’s humanitarian aid shipments in their North Florida disaster logistics hub and prepared the cargo for export to The Kale Foundation in Türkiye by the UPS Foundation/Coyote and Maersk. "LIFT is proud to support Good360’s ongoing disaster response and recovery efforts in Türkiye in order to help alleviate suffering and elevate those impacted by the devasting earthquakes in February of 2023," said a company spokesperson on the development.
