UNIQLO to Donate Clothing to Sandy Relief

Related: Uniqlo, Apparel, Accessories, Sandy Relief

UNIQLO, the global clothing retailer, announced the creation of a 10-week volunteer and donation program to distribute 100,000 donated items of HEATTECH and 10,000 items of Ultra Light Down jackets to those in regions affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The program will organize volunteers to visit local communities to deliver nearly $2.3 million worth of warm clothing to the New York and New Jersey areas hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy. Each weekend starting December 8th, UNIQLO will send buses of 25-50 volunteers that will include both UNIQLO employees and customers. UNIQLO is partnering with the Mayor?'s Fund to Advance New York City, the New York City Housing Authority, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, and theState of New Jersey, Department of State and the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund to select the locations most in need. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can visit www.uniqlo.com for more information.

?"At UNIQLO and our parent company Fast Retailing we understand how important it is to channel resources directly to the places they are most needed. That is why during this time of challenging recovery, UNIQLO believes that it is our privilege to support the communities in which we do business by bringing our two most important resources to the areas and people most affected by this tragedy – our clothing, and equally importantly, enabling our employees and customers to donate their time, especially as temperatures begin to drop this season,?" said Shin Odake, CEO of UNIQLO USA.

UNIQLO has a been a member of the New York community since 2006 when it opened its first U.S. store in SoHo, and has a strong presence in the New York City metro area with its North American headquarters in lower Manhattan, three flagship stores in Manhattan and its first mall location in Paramus, New Jersey. UNIQLO also recently opened its first west coast location in San Francisco.

UNIQLO?'s guiding principal is changing the world through clothing, and the company is hopeful that the innovation it has put into its heat retaining clothing technology will provide comfort and value to people affected by Hurricane Sandy throughout the winter season.

For further information on volunteer locations, please log on to www.UNIQLO.com

Commitment to CSR
UNIQLO and parent company Fast Retailing pursue a CSR strategy in line with their core business philosophy: ?"Changing clothes. Changing conventional wisdom. Change the world.?" Together the companies seek to complete their CSR strategy through a number of initiatives, such as UNIQLO?'s successful response to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. UNIQLO launched the UNIQLO Recovery Assistance Project, successfully donating the equivalent of 3.29 billion yen in total aid through ?eSave Japan?f t-shirts, customer donations, clothing assistance and more.

In addition to providing aid during disasters, UNIQLO proactively pursues initiatives that contribute to society. In October of 2012 UNIQLO launched an initiative called ?"Clothes for Smiles?," a program developed in collaboration with top professional tennis player and UNIQLO Global Brand Ambassador Novak Djokovic. Through this initiative, the company established a $10 million fund to bring smiles to kids all over the world, nuturing their dreams and giving them the tools to build a better and brighter future. The fund was established with a portion of the sales of HEATTECH and Ultra Light Down items during the 2012 fall/winter season worldwide.

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