Honeywell disaster relief effort helped its own employees

Last year’s hurricanes were the catalyst for many organizations to step in and help their communities. Honeywell’s disaster relief effort was different—winning it first place in the “Disaster Relief” category of PR Daily’s 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. 

Honeywell sought to help employees affected by Hurricane Harvey, which displaced 218 of its 1,100 employees who lived in the area, and by Hurricane Irma, which displaced another 17 employees. All of those displaced needed assistance. Other disasters in 2017—Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, an earthquake in Mexico and hurricane-force winds in Romania—left a total of 1,300 employees in dire need of help. 

As a reflection of its commitment to its employees, Honeywell had created the Honeywell Humanitarian Relief Fund in 2005 to provide financial assistance to both employees and communities facing the aftermath of natural disasters. Over the life of the fund, thousands of Honeywell employees contributed nearly $11 million, every dollar of which was matched by the company. 

For 2017, it was Hurricane Harvey that kicked the program into gear, with the company’s Hometown Solutions group assembling a team to distribute preparedness materials, duplicated from each previous series of disasters. The team also enlisted the help of Operation USA, an international disaster relief and development agency whose assessments helped determine the level of financial support affected employees would need after other sources of aid were exhausted. 

Honeywell also communicated the need to fill the fund’s coffers, leading more than 5,000 employees worldwide to donate well over half a million dollars. The company delivered $44 million in personal protective equipment to first responders in Texas, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Corporate jets delivered crucial supplies in Puerto Rico and nearly 1,300 employees received financial assistance from the company fund. 

There were other significant results as well; combined, these coordinated efforts benefited both communities and employees.