Lowe’s: Never Far From the Eye of the Storm

Wh­­­­en tornadoes tore across the central U.S. on ­December 10, local businesses such as the Liquor Barn and Guardian Baseball in Western Kentucky mobilized quickly to assist relief efforts. In Louisville, Six Forks Burger Company and Four Pegs Beer Smokehouse put out a call to customers, friends and community leaders and gathered enough emergency supplies to fill a 26-foot truck. And seven food trucks joined forces to provide hot meals to victims and first responders in nearby Mayfield, in the southwest corner of the state.

While six states were impacted, Kentucky was the hardest hit, with Mayfield, county seat of Graves County, taking the worst of it. By early Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after large parts of the town had been obliterated, employee volunteers from the nearby Lowe’s store were boarding up the Mayfield police department and city hall and aiding relief efforts wherever they could.

By the next day, Lowe’s had set up a Tool Rental Disaster Response Trailer to help people get safely back into their homes and restart their businesses. Around the same time, in nearby Bowling Green, employees were delivering 60 cases of water and critical supplies to assist residents of the most devastated areas of Mayfield, as well as 50 battery-powered lanterns to a senior living home that had lost power.

This wasn’t the first time that Lowe’s had stepped up in times of natural disaster. With more than 2,000 stores throughout North America and a history dating back to the early 1920s, Lowe’s has often been within the orbit of disaster impact zones—or in the center of them. Its employees have been there, on the ground and ready to help, in the wake of every catastrophic weather event in recent memory. Following Hurricane Florence, for example, which visited widespread destruction on the Carolinas in 2018, employees distributed more than 10,000 “disaster relief buckets,” packed with more than $500,000 in vendor-donated clean-up and recovery products.

To be sure, Lowe’s employees themselves were not spared the ravages of last week’s tornadoes. As it has done in past crises, the company is providing vital resources and services for its employees, including fueling stations, meals and showers, and even washers and dryers to help those without power or water. Lowe’s is also expanding financial assistance to employees who need it through its Employee Relief Fund, as well as doubling the company’s match, contributing $2 for every dollar an employee donates to relief efforts.

“From urgent repairs to your dream remodel, we designed our business to be there when you need us most,” says the company on its website.  At Carpenter Group, we see a special poignance in the words “when you need us most.” Lowe’s has been there for its customers and communities in good and hard times alike.

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About Brand Acts of Kindness^®

Brand Acts of Kindness^® is a series from Carpenter Group that spotlights companies across industries that are living their brand values in addressing the unprecedented challenges facing the world today.

The series initially headlined companies assisting healthcare workers and first responders, as well as communities, businesses and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also highlight brands taking the lead in supporting social and racial justice, LGBTQ rights, sustainability and the environment. Their stories show how innovation, resolve and action, built on a solid value proposition, can both strengthen a brand and help create a better world.

About Carpenter Group

Carpenter Group is an independent, woman-owned strategic branding, messaging and marketing communications firm that has delivered results-driven solutions to financial, professional services and technology firms for 30+ years.

Our broad cross-discipline experience enables us to craft brand messaging and carry it through to the channels that most effectively connect with our clients’ target audience, from editorial content to advertising to event marketing and more.