At 4:30 p.m. local time on August 3rd, 2014, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Zhaotong, in Ludian County in Yunnan Province.  As of Monday night (August 4th), the death toll had reached 398 in the cities of Zhaotong and Quqing, with an additional 1,801 people injured.

The destruction left in its wake was heart-wrenching. On the day of the earthquake, Amway immediately initiated emergency plans, and send out teams to verify the safety of employees and distributors in the affected areas.  At present, all personnel are safe.

On August 4th, the company made an emergency decision to make an initial donation through the Amway Charity Foundation of 1 million RMB to the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to aid in emergency procurement and post-quake reconstruction.  Additionally, in response to the shortage of disinfectants, Amway has donated 20,000 RMB worth of Pursue Antiseptic Hand Gel.

In order to provide timely assistance when natural disasters occur, Amway has instituted the “Red Book Disaster Response Plan” across the globe.  According to this globally-adopted plan, whenever natural disasters occur, Amway will provide emergency aid in the form of donations and the active support of Amway volunteer teams dispatched to the disaster area.  Amway (China) provided first response emergency aid during the Wenchuan earthquake, the Yushu earthquake, and the Ya’an earthquake, with donations totaling over 47 million RMB.

Amway and the Amway Charity Foundation are keeping a close eye on developments in the Ludian region and are prepared to continue to provide support and aid as it is needed.