Shell to Provide Over One Million Pieces of PPE to U.S. Communities
HOUSTON, Dec. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the number of COVID-19 cases surges across the country, Shell Oil Company (Shell) has announced it will contribute more than one million pieces of PPE to communities and medical care facilities from coast to coast. Extra face shields, non-medical masks and nitrile gloves are now arriving in some of the hardest hit areas of the country.
"When the lockdown happened in mid-March, we wanted to understand what was really needed in our communities," said Gretchen Watkins, President, Shell Oil Company. "We made sure we continued to provide products and services without disruption and instituted additional, COVID-related precautions at our stations across the US."
At the start of the pandemic, Shell converted several of its plants to produce liquid hand sanitizer. The company has so far donated more than 7,700 gallons to offices of emergency management, medical and elder care facilities, local community school districts and universities. Additionally, Shell donated 132,000 gallons of isopropyl alcohol for use in the production of surgical grade disinfectant wipes.
"When we saw the impacts of the pandemic on our community health systems, we immediately started to focus on the best ways to play our part in helping Americans get through this – especially in the communities in which we work. That's what neighbors do," added Watkins.
To date, Shell has donated more than $4.5 million to help communities across the U.S. respond to the pandemic. Shell's total contribution is mostly made up of in-kind contributions of PPE, meals, fuel, and hand sanitizer to front-line responders, medical and educational institutions. The cash contributions include donations to community relief organizations, food banks, mental health services and, through a national employee match program, more than 175 local organizations across 24 states.
"This year has shown us that it goes beyond just being a good neighbor," said Watkins. "We will continue to support our communities as we make our way through this pandemic together."
Efforts in the South
In Texas and Louisiana, Shell has provided more than $2 million in cash and in-kind contributions to support COVID-19 relief efforts. That includes 900,000 pieces of PPE across 14 local organizations, including, but not limited to: Texas Medical Center c/o Houston Methodist, MD Anderson, Legacy Community Healthcare, Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals (TORCH) State Office of Rural Health, Texas Department of Emergency Management and St Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center.
"We are extremely grateful for this generous donation from Shell," said Firas Zabaneh, Director of System Infection Prevention & Control, Houston Methodist. "These supplies will help us in further preparing to respond to the new surge of COVID cases in Houston and the surrounding areas. Our main objective is to provide the best care for our community while protecting our most valuable asset, which is our employees and physicians - especially our frontline COVID staff. "
"These donations from Shell are allowing us to help our Regions in most need meet the demands of this third surge we are experiencing in Louisiana," said Joe Ganote, Director, GOHSEP Region 3. "Region 3 - our Bayou Parishes of Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, Assumption and Terrebonne – have the lowest per capita ICU capacity in the state, so these donations are even more vital to assist our healthcare workers in slowing the spread in this important region."
Relief in the Northeast
Partnering with organizations like the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce, the Falcon Pipeline Project, YMCA and others, Shell continues to provide support to at-risk citizens throughout Pennsylvania. With its most recent donation of over 100,00 pieces of PPE to the PA Emergency Management Agency and Medic Rescue, Shell continues to play a role in ensuring Pennsylvania's frontline workers have the necessary equipment to safely carry on with their essential work.
"We at Medic Rescue are deeply appreciative of Shell's donation of PPE and hand sanitizer," said William L. Pasquale Jr., Director of Operations, Medic Rescue Ambulance Service. "Their generosity will help ensure that our health care providers can continue to safely respond to the medical needs of the people of Beaver and surrounding counties."
Support in the Midwest
Shell has donated 30,000 pieces of PPE to the Col. Robert Haubrich Armory in Columbus, Ohio. Members of the Ohio Military Reserve have been utilizing the space to support the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and Ohio Department of Health as they redistribute critical equipment to healthcare personnel and other essential workers.
"Donations from companies like Shell are a welcome addition to Ohio's efforts to ensure we have an adequate supply of personal protective equipment, and demonstrate the generosity of the business community during this public health crisis," said Director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services Matt Damschroder. In March, Governor Mike DeWine tapped Damschroder to lead the state's PPE Strike Force charged with procuring and allocating emergency supplies for Ohio.
Contributions in the West/North
With a donation of 30,000 pieces of PPE to the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management, as well as 60,000 pieces of PPE to the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Service, Shell is hoping to alleviate some of the burden on local communities in the Northwest part of the country that are falling behind on PPE as a result of record new COVID cases there.
"Shell's contribution of masks, gloves and hand sanitizer has been enormously helpful to the communities in Skagit County. The PPE went to schools, long term care facilities, food banks, farm workers, low income and homeless support centers, public transportation workers, the courts, law enforcement and legal community, and many other local government agencies," said Hans Kahl, Emergency Management Specialist for Skagit County Department of Emergency Management. "Many of these groups did not receive PPE from Washington State or FEMA's limited resource pool because they were not in the medical field. Receiving this PPE boost from Shell allowed the Skagit Department of Emergency Management to support these important services to keep our community productive and moving and staying safe while doing it."
"The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is thankful for the donation of personal protective equipment. This donation will be distributed across the state to support the frontline workers as they continue to respond to the COVID pandemic," said Heidi Hedberg, Director of Public Health for the State of Alaska.
For more information on Shell's COVID-19 relief efforts, please visit here.
About Shell Oil Company
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with an average of 86,000 employees in more than 70 countries. Our strategy is to strengthen our position as a leading energy company by providing oil and gas and low-carbon energy as the world's energy system changes. Safety and social responsibility are at the heart of our approach. We believe that oil and gas will remain a vital part of the global energy mix for many decades to come. Our aim is to meet the world's growing need for more and cleaner energy solutions in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible. For more information visit www.shell.com
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations" respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. There can be no assurance that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, March 5, 2020. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.
With respect to operating costs synergies indicated, such savings and efficiencies in procurement spend include economies of scale, specification standardisation and operating efficiencies across operating, capital and raw material cost areas.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.
SOURCE Shell Oil Company
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