Huntsman raises over $600k for winter storm recovery

Huntsman Corporation Chairman, President and CEO Peter Huntsman is keeping up the giving legacy of his father Jon Huntsman, who passed away Feb. 2, 2018, by collecting and contributing funds to assist people impacted by the recent winter storm. 

The Huntsman Corporation announced Feb. 24 that, thanks to Huntsman associates, service providers and the Beaumont Foundation, the company is donating over $600,000 to the Montgomery County Food Bank, Houston Food Bank and Interfaith Ministries of The Woodlands through the Huntsman Flood Fund. Huntsman and wife Brynn matched employee donations. He is calling on other companies and corporations to do the same and join the effort to end hunger in Southeast Texas and beyond.

Faced with the devastating impact to Greater Houston from the recent winter storm, Huntsman issued a “24-hour challenge” to associates for donations to support the ongoing relief efforts.

“I went to lunch on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 23) in 70-degree weather, and somebody made the comment, ‘Boy, that freeze certainly ended fast, and now it’s all behind us,’” Huntsman recalled of the week following the winter storm. “It dawned on me that there are a lot of people who are hurt and suffering, a lot of people who have to use their grocery money to fix pipes and unexpected things. While the weather may have improved and gotten back to normal, a lot of people’s lives have been completely upended.

“We have about 1,200 associates in the Harris and Montgomery County areas where our headquarters is located. So, I figured we’d try to see, in a 24-hour period, how many people would be interested in supporting the food banks.”

The response was tremendous, Huntsman shared.

“True to the great associates that we have, they all pitched in over $100,000 in a 24-hour period just through payroll deductions and so forth,” Huntsman lauded. “My wife and I matched that, and some of our suppliers jumped in for $100,000. The Beaumont Foundation put in $200,000 and we immediately got to $600,000. That will be going to the food banks and the Interfaith Ministries of Montgomery County.”

Huntsman said the idea was inspired by his father and a charitable fund set up to assist people in need after Hurricane Harvey devastated Southeast Texas in 2017.

“It was interesting; the tax-deductible charity that we used is called the Huntsman Flood Fund. It was actually set up by Wayne Reaud and my father, Jon Huntsman, so that they could give money and get some of our suppliers and some of our employees to give money, and we still have that charitable entity,” he explained. “So, that’s where this whole thing started, a couple of years back with my father, who has since passed away. It was kind of cool because I could feel his influence in this whole thing. It was like he was saying, ‘Hey, I started this. You guys have to keep carrying on.’”

Now, just as his father before him, Peter Huntsman serves on the Beaumont Foundation board with founding Chairman Reaud. The Beaumont Foundation of American provides food to hungry community members through food banks, Meals on Wheels, soup kitchens and Catholic charities. Since its inception, the Foundation has given over $17 million to feed financially insecure people, elderly residents and people in need, just as they are doing with the recent $200,000 donation.

In the Foundation’s mission statement, it reads, “Remembering the words of Jesus, ‘If you love me, feed my sheep!’”

Huntsman said he is grateful for the contributions the Beaumont Foundation and Huntsman suppliers gave for the current initiative, and he praised the Huntsman associates who chose to give a portion of their hard-earned paychecks to help their fellow Texans.

“About half of our employees participated in this… giving on average a $200 or $300 payroll deduction – that’s about a $1 a day,” he described. “If companies were to match that, just think about the kind of impact it would have. I just got thinking, if a company the size of Huntsman can have this impact, if these big corporations would really get better focused, we could end hunger as we know it today in an area like Houston or Beaumont – for literally $1 a day.”

Food banks have reported they need money even more than food donations because they can stretch their dollars much farther than most through partnerships with providers. According to the Food Bank of Southeast Texas, “a $1 donation can help provide up to four meals” for hungry community members, including an increasing numbers of food-insecure children.

“In this time of profound impact, Texas businesses can do more and need to do it quickly,” added Huntsman. “We recognize those companies and their employees who have already stepped up and we encourage others to do the same.”