Acuity Brands and Its Employees Provide over $250,000 of Assistance to Victims of Hurricane Katrina
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2005--Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) announced today that the Company and its employees have established programs to provide over $250,000 of assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Company's subsidiary, Acuity Brands Lighting, donated the use of an idle 160,000 square foot facility in the metropolitan Atlanta area to serve as a relief services "mega-center" for dozens of organizations providing relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina, including the United Way, American Red Cross, Goodwill Industries, Traveler's Aid, and various other federal, state, and DeKalb County agencies and departments. The facility which is located at One Lithonia Way, Decatur, Georgia, enables people to register children in local schools, locate long-term housing, forward mail, receive food, clothing, and financial assistance, and find other needed relief services under one roof. During its first week of operation, the facility has helped almost 5,000 families including placing 2,250 families in long-term housing.
Acuity Brands Lighting, one of the world's leading manufacturers of lighting fixtures, also quickly responded to FEMA's request for emergency lighting for a temporary housing site near New Orleans. Two hundred Lithonia Lighting(R) brand Dusk-to-Dawn(R) lights were shipped and installation began within a day making the site more livable and secure.
Also, employees of the Company's subsidiary, Acuity Specialty Products, have made significant direct contributions to fellow employees impacted by this disaster, and have also distributed more than $15,000 of the Company's Zep(R) hand sanitizer and other cleaning and sanitizing products to evacuee support centers at the Houston Astrodome and San Antonio Alamodome and to other relief shelters throughout the southeast.
In addition to ongoing employee contributions, the building and product donations, and other relief efforts, Acuity Brands will donate $25,000 to the United Way marking the beginning of its comprehensive campaign to aid victims. The Company also established a dollar-for-dollar matching program up to $25,000 for employee contributions to a fund established to assist associates of the Company who were impacted by the storm.
Vernon J. Nagel, Chairman, President and CEO of Acuity Brands, commented, "Hurricane Katrina has directly impacted the lives of many of our employees and customers. In response to the devastation left in its wake, I am proud of the immediate call to action of our employees nationwide to help those in need. In total, distribution of company products, gifts in kind and donations from employees will exceed $250,000 to assist those most devastated by the storm. We are proud to be a part of this recovery effort."
Acuity Brands, Inc., with fiscal year 2004 net sales of over $2.1 billion, is comprised of Acuity Brands Lighting and Acuity Specialty Products. Acuity Brands Lighting is one of the world's leading providers of lighting fixtures and includes brands such as Lithonia Lighting(R), Holophane(R), Peerless(R), Hydrel(R), American Electric Lighting(R), and Gotham(R). Acuity Specialty Products is a leading provider of specialty chemicals and includes brands such as Zep(R), Zep Commercial(TM), Enforcer(R), and Selig(TM). Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Acuity Brands employs approximately 10,000 people and has operations throughout North America and in Europe and Asia.
CONTACT: Acuity Brands, Inc.
Dan Smith, 404-853-1423
SOURCE: Acuity Brands, Inc.