Community Corner
Diageo Keeps the Power on at Stamford Retirement Home
Residents of Scofield Manor are able to stay put after Hurricane Irene thanks to disaster relief efforts of a global beverage company with a headquarters here in Fairfield County.
Much of the region is looking a little dark these days, but for certain facilities, it’s absolutely critical to keep the power on. , a retirement home with 50 residents in North Stamford, was looking at a certain evacuation before Diageo stepped in on Monday afternoon with a ready generator.
“We were in touch with the Mayor’s Office about 48 hours ago,” Guy Smith, EVP of Diageo, said on Monday. “One of the things that we do as part of corporate citizenship is before a hurricane, we’ll position a large generator near where we think there will be a need -- this is large enough to power a relief shelter, a small hospital, or in this case, a small nursing home.”
Chris Munger, special assistant to Mayor Michael Pavia in emergency planning and training, was able to match up the resources with the need when the Mayor's Office heard about the situation at Scofield Manor.
“We do these things all over the world, but it’s nice to be able to do it in our own backyard," Smith said. "We have 1,000 employees in this area. Our [Norwalk] headquarters is dark right now and we’re closed until the power gets back on.”
The world’s leading premium drinks business, Diageo is the name behind brands including Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Baileys, and Guinness. As a company, they are active in disaster relief around the the world -- from providing medical supplies in Haiti to sending 100,000 pounds of food and supplies to two children’s hospitals in Baghdad, Diageo’s goal is to be at-the-ready as soon as possible after a disaster.
Scofield Manor knew earlier in the day that their old generator was on its last legs and were planning to move residents to a school down the street. It turned out that the school was running low on fuel for their generator and Scofield Manor was facing a tough evacuation for their residents.
“The facility is back up and running now and we’ll be able to keep it up until the power is back,” Smith said. “We try to act quickly so we can have an impact when people really need it.”
