Buffett Aids Briggs & Stratton in Haiti Relief Efforts

Briggs & Stratton has donated 240 generators to provide power to areas of Haiti that were devastated be the January earthquake, but the units have been tied up in customs. After a company Rep met Buffett, he offered to help:

Laura Timm, director of corporate communications for Wauwatosa-based Briggs, recently spent four days in Haiti checking on the status of the generators and touring the ravaged nation. She met Buffett, whose hit songs include Margaritaville and Cheeseburger in Paradise, in the lobby of her hotel in the capital city of Port-au- Prince and told him of the reason for her trip. The following morning, Timm received a phone cal saying that Buffett wanted to speak with her again. He told her he was on his way to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti for a meeting and said he would mention Briggs & Stratton’s plight.

Briggs & Stratton?s donation, valued at $250,000 was coordinated by Vero Beach, Fla.-based Haiti Partners, which will distribute 190 generators to schools, churches and clinics. The foundation wil share its 50 generators with Haiti?s Civil Protection Department.