Nestle Waters North America has donated 244,344 half-liter and one-liter bottles of Nestle Pure Life and Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water during the past week to citizens and disaster relief workers in flood-stricken areas of Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. AmeriCares and the American Red Cross, along with local, on-the-ground agencies, are distributing the donations throughout the region.

Severe rain and record floods have wreaked havoc on the Midwest in recent weeks. The floods are said to be the worst the region has experienced in nearly 15 years. Thousands of residents have been displaced, and hundreds of homes and businesses have been damaged.

“The heavy rains and flooding have been devastating to the people of the Midwest,” says John Connell, director of emergency response for AmeriCares. “At times like this, clean drinking water is essential. We’re fortunate to have a partnership with Nestle Waters, an organization with the resources and ability to respond with bottled water immediately when disasters strike.”

“Donations like this make a difference in the lives of the individuals and families affected by disaster. The immediate needs during an emergency or natural disaster include clean water and food. The importance of water cannot be emphasized enough, particularly during the warmer summer months,” says Lauri Rhinehart, vice president of development operations for the American Red Cross. “We can always count on the support of Nestle Waters to help us provide essential aid to communities affected by disasters.”

“We are saddened by the losses to our employees and thousands of their neighbors as a result of the recent Midwest flooding. But AmeriCares and the American Red Cross have done an outstanding job of providing disaster relief to those in need,” says Alex McIntosh, director of corporate citizenship, Nestle Waters North America.

This donation follows Nestle Waters North America’s recent donation of more than 35,000 half-liters of Nestle Pure Life bottled water to Iowa citizens affected by the level five tornado in late May. These bottles of water were distributed throughout the affected area by the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, a member of America’s Second Harvest, as well as the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross. In the past, Nestle Waters has provided millions of bottles of water to citizens and relief workers affected by natural disasters, including the California wildfires and Hurricane Katrina.