what a relief!

When Hurricane Isabel roared into North Carolina last summer, it was logistics to the rescue once again. The hurricane left more than 600 damaged homes in its wake, almost half uninhabitable due to flood damage. In the hard-hit community of Atlantic, N.C., flood waters even forced the community's emergency shelter to close, sending refugees from the storm to a nearby church.

But help was quick to arrive. Locally based employees of Exel, a provider of supply chain management services, initiated a collection of supplies and the company donated free freight services to get the donations to those most in need. The initiative resulted in the collection and delivery of a full truckload of personal necessities, cleaning items, blankets and clothing.

"Many Exel associates in this area were personally impacted by past hurricanes," says Angie Tschopp, Exel's operations manager in Raleigh, N.C. "We understand the importance of giving back, so we asked customers in the area to add to what our associates gathered by donating goods or purchasing items for those affected."