blood is thicker than flood waters

When disaster strikes, you can count on logistics and material handling companies to lend a helping hand. But when floods left parts of the Midwest underwater in June, some of those who usually are on the giving end were themselves in need of assistance.

Some employees of Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM), which is headquartered in Columbus, Ind., and has nearly 900 associates in the area, and TIEM dealer Hupp Toyotalift lost homes or possessions in the floods. Hupp also suffered severe damage at one of its locations.

Members of TIEM's "family" came to the rescue. In addition to donating $10,000 and the use of a lift truck to the Columbus-area American Red Cross, Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A. (TMHU) established a matching-gifts program to help its associates and dealers raise money for affected employees at TIEM and Hupp Toyotalift. TMHU also held clothing and canned food drives at its headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and at its Columbus location.

Meanwhile, parent company Toyota Industries Companies established a $27,500 fund for TIEM associates who were victims of the flood.