Comcast NBCUniversal’s Continued Hurricane Relief Efforts
As the communities affected by Hurricane Irma and Harvey continue to recover from the devastation, Comcast NBCUniversal continues to support in the aftermath through a variety of relief efforts including cash, in-kind and work force support.
To date, Comcast NBCUniversal’s total contributions come to nearly $20 million. Direct cash contributions total more than $2.5 million to support the American Red Cross, the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund established by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, J.J. Watt’s Houston Flood Relief Fund and other local relief organizations. Another $12 million was donated in advertising time on Xfinity TV to run public service announcements about relief efforts and has raised over $5 million for the American Red Cross from contributions made during local phone banks and telethons that aired on NBC and Telemundo owned stations and the Telemundo network earlier this month. Several NBCUniversal networks, including NBC, Bravo, Oxygen, E!, and Universo, also broadcast “Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief” on September 12 raising more than $44 million in the first day alone.
Beyond the financial support, Comcast NBCUniversal opened 53,000 Xfinity WiFi hotspots in the Houston area to help residents and emergency workers connect to family and resources. And, an additional 137,000 hotspots were positioned throughout Florida after Hurricane Irma, making it possible for residents and emergency workers to stay connected.
Comcast NBCUniversal also launched an On Demand feature on Xfinity TV that makes it easy for our more than 22 million video customers to support hurricane relief by either saying “Hurricane Relief” into their Xfinity X1 voice remote or clicking on the “Donate Now” screen. The donation feature will be available through September 30.
Unsurprisingly, Comcast NBCUniversal employees were anxious to assist, and traveled to the affected areas to support in the repair efforts. A group of Comcast technicians from Utah, Colorado and Arizona traveled to Houston to help with repairs immediately after the worst of the storm hit Houston, and technicians from New Mexico are heading to Houston later this month.
Comcast NBCUniversal will continue to identify ways to support and contribute to rebuilding efforts.