P&G's Tide Loads of Hope Continues to Provide Support for Survivors of the Earthquake in Haiti

CINCINNATI, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 12, 2010, the people of Haiti experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes on record.  Soon after, the Tide Loads of Hope program, committed to helping victims of disasters, began donating the profits from all Tide Loads of Hope Vintage tees sold in the months of February and March to relief efforts in Haiti.  The resulting sales, with profits matched by Tide, raised nearly $500,000 for relief efforts in Haiti. These funds will be used to rebuild the laundry rooms of the National University Hospital of the State of Haiti (HUEH or the "National Hospital") in Port au Prince as well as Zanmi Beni, a home for disabled orphans and abandoned children.  

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P&G's (NYSE: PG) Loads of Hope team plans to arrive in Haiti, August 31st, making their first stop at the National Hospital in Port au Prince.  The National Hospital has 700 beds and no working washing machines or dryers.  The staff currently does all laundry by hand in wash bins and wet clothes are hung on a line to dry. The Loads of Hope team will spend the first 3-4 days in Haiti completely renovating the National Hospital's existing laundry room.  In addition to providing new washers and dryers, the team will repaint, replace all ceiling tiles, install wall mounted industrial fans, install new lighting and assess additional needs in the newly renovated laundry room.  Once the room is completely finished, the team will spend a day training the hospital staff on how to use the new equipment and troubleshoot any problems that may arise.

Once the hospital work is complete and the staff is trained, the team will move to the Zanmi Beni home where they will spend 1-2 days prepping and installing the new equipment and training the staff.  Zanmi Beni recently opened as a home for 48 disabled orphans and abandoned children. It provides a staff of 30 full-time doctors, nurses, therapists, nannies and caregivers that care for the children. Operation Blessing International handles logistic and maintenance issues for Zanmi Beni, renovating existing buildings and building new dorms.  The Loads of Hope team will be working with Operation Blessing International to build a fully functional laundry room so that the bed linens and clothing will no longer need to be washed by hand.

The Tide Loads of Hope mobile laundry program was created in response to Hurricane Katrina.  In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on the Gulf Coast, it became clear that for those who were displaced from their homes, simple comforts like clean clothing became an important part of feeling a sense of normalcy and hope as they started to rebuild their lives.  

Since 2005, Tide Loads of Hope has been committed to helping communities affected by disasters by providing free laundry services to families and relief workers including those impacted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, California wildfires, floods in Fargo, ND and the floods in Nashville, TN. To date, Tide has washed over 36,000 loads of laundry for more than 27,000 families.  For smaller-scale disasters, where the truck's services are not needed, Tide Loads of Hope often donates bottles of detergent to these areas to help those recovering from smaller disasters.  

For more information on Tide Loads of Hope or to purchase a Tide Loads of Hope t-shirt, the profits of which benefit families affected by disaster, please visit TideLoadsofHope.com.  You can also follow Tide Loads of Hope on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TideLoadsOfHope or become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Tide.  

About Tide®

For over 60 years, Tide® has been caring for the clothes of American families and helping to provide the everyday miracle of clean clothing.  To meet consumers' diverse laundry needs, Tide offers its cleaning in a variety of products including Tide Total Care, Tide with Febreze Freshness, Tide Coldwater, Tide with a Touch of Downy, Tide with Bleach Alternative, Tide Stain Release, Tide High Efficiency and 2X Ultra Tide Liquid.  For consumers' on-the-go stain removal needs, Tide to Go helps remove fresh food and drink stains on the spot.  Visit www.tide.com for helpful product information, practical tips on laundry care, special offers and promotions and more.

About Procter & Gamble

Four billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Gain®, Pringles®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun® and Fusion®. The P&G community includes approximately 135,000 employees working in about 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

SOURCE Tide