STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than five million bottles of water will be arriving this weekend and early next week in New York and New Jersey communities hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. Approximately 100 trucks will be converging on the region from Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) plants in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas and Maine, where employees are working tirelessly to meet the acute needs of storm victims. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the New York Office of Emergency Management made the request for bottled water to meet immediate need in the region.

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Nestle Waters North America is also donating 200,000 bottles of Poland Spring® water that had been designated for the NYC Marathon. With that event now cancelled, all of that bottled water is being turned over to relief agencies. This brings total bottled water donations by NWNA to more than 775,000 bottles, most of which have by distributed through disaster relief partners AmeriCares and The American Red Cross.  

For example, the Red Cross is using bottles of Nestle® Pure Life® purified water sent to its Somerset, New Jersey warehouse to provide assistance to people in shelters and communities in that region facing disruptions in municipal water supplies. AmeriCares has received donations of Deer Park® water to be distributed to The Salvation Army for Nassau County on Long Island, and Nestle® Pure Life® to help residents of New York City housing projects.

"The bottled water industry plays a critical role at times like this to provide large quantities of clean, safe water that can be transported and stored safely," says Heidi Paul, vice president corporate affairs for Nestle Waters North America. "We are proud of the efforts and commitment of our employees across the country who work around the clock to get water to people in need."

The 5.4 million additional bottles requested by FEMA will be arriving between Sunday and Tuesday, and will be staged from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, as well as from Lakehurst, New Jersey.

People who would like to learn how they can support relief efforts should visit: http://www.americares.org/ or http://www.redcross.org/.

About Nestle Waters North America Inc.

Nestle Waters North America is the nation's leading bottled water company. Nestle Waters offers consumers a variety of portable, calorie-free bottled waters, including Poland Spring and other natural spring water brands; Nestle® Pure Life®, a nationally distributed purified bottled water; and international brands,  S. Pellegrino, Perrier and Acqua Panna. Most recently, the company has added a refreshing line of ready-to-drink iced teas. Nestle Waters North America is committed to creating shared value for society. It does so through healthy hydration, jobs and benefits to communities where it operates, and environmental stewardship, most notably responsible water management, lightweight packaging and advancing recycling in America. People's interest in reducing their calories from beverages and having a reliable second source of water has led Nestle Waters North America to be third largest non-alcoholic beverage company by volume in the U.S.

SOURCE Nestle Waters North America