USAPEEC DONATES AID TO VICTIMS OF MEXICO EARTHQUAKES

USAPEEC DONATES $250,000 TO AID
VICTIMS OF MEXICO EARTHQUAKES

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - (November 16, 2017) - The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) is making a sizable donation to the relief efforts for those affected by recent earthquakes in Mexico that displaced thousands of people.

The contribution of $250,000 will help to rebuild dwellings in affected areas, including the largely rural Mexican state of Chiapas, which received the brunt of the damage from the September earthquakes. Chiapas is one of Mexico’s poorest states.

“Our members were overwhelmed by news reports of the devastation in Mexico, and we immediately contacted our friends in Mexico to see what the U.S. poultry and egg industry could do to help,” said USAPEEC President Jim Sumner.

USAPEEC is comprised of about 200 member companies including processors, traders, and commodity groups, and represents the export interests of the U.S. chicken, turkey, egg and duck industries.

USAPEEC and Mexico have shared a close relationship for more than 17 years. Mexico is not only the top market for U.S. poultry exports, it is also a very good partner, and that relationship has benefitted the poultry and egg industries of both countries, Sumner said.

“This donation will have a positive impact on the hardest-hit areas, especially in Southern Mexico, by helping them to recover from the earthquake’s horrible devastation,” said Alma Lilia de Leon, director of USAPEEC’s Mexico City office, who was intimately involved in helping people in areas of Mexico City devastated by the earthquakes.

The USAPEEC donation will be administered by Fondo de Conservación El Triunfo, a well-known and respected charitable organization that has worked for more than 15 years on sustainable projects in rural communities in Southern Mexico.

“This donation is landing from heaven,” said Ana Valerie Mandri, director of Fondo de Conservacion El Triunfo. “There are 89 damaged houses, and 45 need total reconstruction. This donation will help to rebuild and reconstruct at least 80 houses and will be benefiting 106 families in five different communities in Chiapas. I say it is coming from heaven because, in these stages, we receive very few donations because the emergency is over and people forget.”

USAPEEC has worked jointly with Mexico on numerous initiatives to expand poultry and egg consumption and to harmonize standards and regulations in both countries. These efforts have helped fight poultry diseases like avian influenza and increased the global competitiveness of the U.S. and Mexican poultry industries. USAPEEC’s contribution to aid the earthquake victims is an effort to help our Mexican friends at a most difficult time.

Over the years, USAPEEC has also made considerable financial contributions in other countries beset by natural disasters, including Peru, China and, earlier this year, Colombia.

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About USAPEEC

Founded in 1984, the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) is a non-profit, industry-sponsored trade organization dedicated to increasing exports of U.S. poultry and egg food products in all foreign markets. USAPEEC's world headquarters is located in Stone Mountain, Ga., near Atlanta. In addition, the Council has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico City, and Monterrey, and retains consultants in Europe, Johannesburg, Middle East, Moscow, Seoul, and Tokyo.