In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, liberal elites immediately and
harshly criticized the inadequacies of the federal government’s
response. Yet relatively less has been said about the impressively
effective outreach of other entities, perhaps because they occupy a
less celebrated perch in the liberal pantheon.
Among them, of course, are the military and faith-based
charities like the Salvation Army and Feed the Children. But a
private company that’s a regular target of liberal vituperation has
also stepped up with almost unprecedented generosity: Wal-Mart.
With a $17 million cash donation for hurricane relief along the
Gulf Coast, Wal-Mart has also provided a host of services enabled
by its immense distribution and information infrastructure. Mobile
mini Wal-Mart stores were deployed to provide necessities free of
charge in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, along with more than
2,500 truckloads of water and other supplies requested by emergency
relief agencies.
Along with free check cashing in 126 stores near the disaster
areas, the company likewise activated an Online Emergency Contact
Registry to help its employees and customers to post, email and
search for information to locate their family members. More
recently, Wal-Mart also established gift registries, so that
families and friends of those impoverished by the hurricane can
provide them with the supplies they need most.
Wal-Mart’s generosity dwarfs that of top competitors, like
Target, which has donated $2.5 million to the Red Cross and is
providing supplies to organizations like FEMA and the Red Cross.
And Target’s attitude toward faith-based organizations like the
Salvation Army stands in stark contrast to Wal-Mart’s. Just last
week, even in light of the Salvation Army’s role as one of the
primary responders to the Katrina disaster, Target refused to
reconsider its decision to ban the Army’s bell-ringers from its
stores during the Christmas season. But according to newspaper
accounts, Wal-Mart told Salvation Army officials, “Whatever you
need, call us first.”
No doubt there is much for liberals to dislike about Wal-Mart.
It isn’t unionized, and its corporate culture reflects a
conservatism that the elites find distasteful, from its refusal to
stock music or computer games with mature ratings to its decision
not to sell Preven, a “morning-after” pill that many consider an
abortifacient.
But Wal-Mart is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of
those whom Katrina has devastated the most. It has long catered to
a clientele that desperately needs the savings it provides. Fully
25% of Wal-Mart’s customers have neither a basic checking nor a
savings account; they are living paycheck to paycheck and food
represents their second-largest expenditure (behind only their
housing costs).
Wal-Mart has risen to the occasion, reaching out to the
hurricane’s most vulnerable victims with sensitivity, compassion,
and real generosity. So the next time some politician or competitor
appeals to anti-Wal-Mart sentiment, perhaps it will be time to ask,
“What did you do after the hurricane?”
