PP&L, Inc.'s Community of Volunteers organization is collecting supplies to help people who are struggling to survive the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in El Salvador.
Members of the community are invited to join PP&L, Inc. employees in donating medical supplies, food and clothing.
Hurricane Mitch, which killed an estimated 11,000 people in four Central American countries, is being called the "disaster of the century" in that part of the world. The destruction and death from Mitch is surpassed only by what is called the Great Hurricane of 1780, which reportedly killed more than 22,000 people.
PP&L, Inc.'s sister company, PP&L Global, provides electricity distribution services to nearly 200,000 people in El Salvador in conjunction with its Chilean partner, Emel.
Lou Ramos, PP&L, Inc.'s manager-Community Affairs, has been in touch with the PP&L Global people in El Salvador. "We need to act now to help those people who desperately need us," said Ramos.
"The infrastructure of the country has been destroyed," said Ramos. "Those of us at PP&L, Inc. who remember the devastation caused by tropical Storm Agnes in our region can relate somewhat to the much greater destruction that has been caused in El Salvador."
Employees at PP&L, Inc.'s Poplar Street office are coordinating medical supplies, food and clothing donations. The community is invited to participate by dropping off items Saturday, Nov. 21, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at PP&L, Inc., 344 S. Poplar Street, Hazleton. Employee volunteers will be taking donations in the front lobby.
Medical supplies that are the most urgently needed include: adult and children's Tylenol or generic equivalent, athletes' foot/fungus medication, cold/congestion medication, diarrhea medicines, Pepto Bismol or similar stomach infection medicine, calamine, eye drops (for infections), Band-Aids, gauze bandages, first-aid adhesive tape, rubbing alcohol, iodine, cotton and syringes.
Food supplies also are needed. They are: beans (pinto, kidney, navy beans, etc.), rice, sugar, salt, tuna fish, instant soup, coffee (instant), instant powdered milk for adults/children and cereals for children.
Also needed are infant bottles, blankets, jackets, sweaters, sanitary napkins, and disposable diapers.
Items will be collected from all PP&L, Inc. regional facilities, put in a shipping container and sent directly to a contact person in El Salvador next week.
Ramos explained that it does no good to send money right now because there is no place to purchase goods, especially basic over-the-counter medical supplies.
PP&L, Inc. employees coordinating the efforts in Hazleton are: Martha Herron, PP&L community development director; Pam Yale, customer service representative; Judy Phillips, steno/clerk; and Mike Komishock, meter technician. If you have any questions, call Herron at (717) 459-7314, or Yale at (717) 459-7409.
PP&L, Inc., a subsidiary of PP&L Resources, Inc., provides electric delivery service to 1.2 million customers in 29 counties of eastern and central Pennsylvania, generates electricity, sells retail electricity across Pennsylvania and markets and trades wholesale energy in 26 states and Canada through its Energy Marketing Center.
Other PP&L Resources companies include PP&L EnergyPlus Co., which sells competitively priced energy and energy services to newly deregulated markets; PP&L Global, which develops electric generation around the world and has investments in United Kingdom and Latin American companies that distribute electricity to 3 million customers; PP&L Spectrum, which markets energy-management services and products; Penn Fuel Gas, which sells natural gas and propane in Pennsylvania and Maryland; and H. T. Lyons and McClure Company, which provide heating, ventilating and air-conditioning services in the mid-Atlantic region.