It’s almost Flag Day. But until then, all of us at ALAN are busy celebrating another important holiday that we like to call Brag Day. (And in case you’re wondering, yes, we did invent it. How could you tell?)
It’s a day when we remember some of the amazing in-kind donors who have selflessly helped ALAN fill a recent logistics need – and some of the many individuals and organizations who have helped us with our educational and informational programs. Just as important, it’s a time when we get to send them one more heartfelt thank you before the new Hurricane Season gets too busy and things here at ALAN get too hectic.
So without further ado, allow us to salute the following:
- Peachy-Keen Material Handling Equipment. How can a Georgia non-profit like Trucker’s Safety Support & Supply Fleet Inc. do a better job of distributing clothes, shoes, food and toys to low-income families? With the help of a donated forklift from Carolina Handling, of course. Now that’s what we call an uplifting story!
- Home Stretch Help. When Adventist Community Services needed stretch wrap to help with tornado recovery efforts in Arkansas, The New Warehouse gladly stepped up to contribute the much-needed distribution supplies. Thanks for your generosity, New Warehouse. And muchas gracias for helping us get this particular ALAN case wrapped up so quickly.
- An Outstanding Encore Performance. Every year it seems like the good folks at UPS say yes to at least one ALAN request for transportation assistance – and 2023 was no exception. Earlier this year they transported 18 pallets of PPE and medical supplies from California to Miami free of charge. The PPE and supplies were ultimately flown to Haiti by our friends at Airlink, where they were used to help our non-profit partners at Medshare with cholera relief efforts. Thank you for your ongoing help, UPS. You really are the total package.
- Truly Corny Transportation. When Operation BBQ Relief needed to find a way to transport 19 pallets of canned corn from Wisconsin to Florida to help with mass feeding efforts after Hurricane Ian, an anonymous donor was there to help us cob-ble together a highly effective (and free) first-mile solution. What else can we say but thank you, thank you, thank you?
- NOT Listening To Shakespeare. One of the most common requests ALAN gets after a disaster is for the short-term loan of industrial equipment – like the electric forklift that ALAN in-kind donor ePicker agreed to loan Florida’s Adventist Community Services for Hurricane Ian relief efforts. Thank heavens this generous company didn’t take the advice “never . . . a lender be” to heart!
- Snow-Nonsense Material Handling Equipment. Ever since California’s winter storms hit, many of the Golden State’s non-profits have been especially busy. But thanks to the loan of a forklift from Precision Material Handling and the gift of two pallet jacks from an anonymous donor, the folks from God’s Little Voices are able to more efficiently provide hunger relief efforts for 50-100 families per week – and do a better job of supporting other area non-profits’ hunger relief efforts, too. Props to both of these extraordinary companies. If everyone were as nice as you, the world would truly be a better place.
- Ultra-Cool Warehousing Assistance. Donated warehouse space can be difficult to come by, especially if that space needs to be temperature controlled. That’s why we’re especially grateful to U.S. Cold Storage for agreeing to contribute the frozen warehouse space required to store six truckloads’ worth of donated pork (enough to feed nearly 500,000 disaster survivors) for Operation BBQ Relief earlier this year. Thank you for saying yes to this ALAN request, U.S. Cold Storage. You’re living proof that the best things in life really are free(ze).
- Haul Of Fame-Level Generosity. Whether it’s winter, spring, summer or fall, we’ve learned that we can always call on our good friends at CEVA Logistics for donated trucking assistance – including the two pallets’ worth of medical equipment it transported to Florida on behalf of FODAC earlier this year. Merci beaucoup for repeatedly showing up for us, CEVA. We’re grateful to have you in our corner.
- Wet–tacular Supply Chain Support. Hundreds of ALAN financial donors are staying stylishly dry thanks to our new ALAN-logoed rain jackets – and Verst Logistics and Tee Public, which kindly donated the fulfillment and shipping needed to get them to their new owners. We’re “umbrell-ievalby” thankful for both of these companies’ help.
- Keeping It Real-Time – And Keeping Everyone In The Loop. As anyone who works in logistics knows, information is often the most important resource of all. As a result, we are ever-grateful for organizations like Everstream Analytics for providing the technology behind ALAN’s Supply Chain Intelligence Center.
- Making Us Think Smarter. If knowledge is indeed power, then we’d be remiss if we didn’t send powerful thanks to Elaine Nessle, Elaine Dezenski, Ben Gordon, Wendy Absil, Wendy Beltz, Gwendolyn Hunnicut, Jason Schenker, Robert Martichenko, and John Sokich. Each of these subject matter experts was kind enough to serve as a guest speaker for one of ALAN’s bi-weekly partners calls, and we’ve learned an incredible amount because of their time with us.
- Spreading The Word. Last but not least, no Brag Day would be complete without thanking association partners like MHEDA and the Global Cold Chain Alliance for sending out APBs when we had specific needs we just KNEW their members could fill. (And you know what? We were right! Their members came through!)
I’m all out of puns and corny analogies, so I guess this is as fitting a time to close as any.
But before I do, let me leave you with one small final thought – and plant one small seed.
Although all of the stories that I shared here are particular to late 2022 and early 2023, the needs they filled bear a remarkable similarity to the needs and urgent requests that ALAN helps with year after year. So if you’re making plans for this Hurricane Season and wondering how you can help, just take a look above. Then, if you’re feeling particularly generous, go to the “How to Help” portion of ALAN’s website (https://www.alanaid.org/offer-inkind-services-or-equipment/) and make a pre-offer. It will help us far more than you can even imagine.
On behalf of all of us at ALAN, we wish you the happiest of Brag Days – and the best of Flag Days, too.
Kathy Fulton
Executive Director
American Logistics Aid Network
