Whirlpool Corporation , which earlier announced that it is donating up to $1 million in cash, products and services to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, is continuing its cooperation with a number of agencies to establish long-term relief centers throughout the stricken Gulf region.

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In Mississippi, for example, Whirlpool is donating 126 washers and 126 dryers to the American Red Cross and the Mississippi Emergency Management Centers, which have set up relief hubs across the state to house displaced victims. Similar efforts are underway in Alabama, where laundry centers are being outfitted at temporary housing complexes, and in Louisiana, where longer-term relief centers have been established in the Greater Baton Rouge area.

Earlier this month, Whirlpool set up two laundry centers with 50 washer- dryer pairs in Houston's Astrodome, in cooperation with Proctor & Gamble Co. and Clorox Co., who provided detergent and bleach.

Whirlpool also is in the process of gathering product donation packages to help with the renovation of the destroyed and damaged facilities of several partner organizations. Some 32 Habitat for Humanity International affiliate offices, 11 United Way facilities, 17 Boys & Girl's Clubs and a number of Salvation Army buildings were rendered inoperable by Hurricane Katrina.

Employees in Whirlpool's plant communities are collecting goods to donate to their local American Red Cross chapters or their respective government assistance agencies. In addition, several Whirlpool plants have hired qualified workers from the Gulf area and are screening additional workers for employment, as well as offering relocation assistance to their families.

In Whirlpool's headquarters community of Benton Harbor, the company's African American diversity network is assisting more than a dozen families that have taken refuge in the area.

To date, the Whirlpool Foundation has collected nearly $182,000 in donations from more than 1,125 employees. These individual contributions are matched, dollar for dollar, by the Foundation, with the proceeds going to the American Red Cross.

Beginning the week of Sept. 26th, Whirlpool will be working with Habitat for Humanity International to support "Operation Home Delivery," Habitat's long-term relief program to help rebuild the communities in the Gulf. Kicking off the program, Whirlpool employees will help construct up to 50 pre-built homes in New York's Rockefeller Center that will be boxed and shipped to Louisiana and Mississippi at the end of the week. Three of those homes will be erected, again with the help of Whirlpool employees, in St. Tamany Parrish, Louisiana, the week of Oct. 3rd.

Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of over $13 billion, 68,000 employees, and nearly 50 manufacturing and technology research centers around the globe. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Consul and other major brand names to consumers in more than 170 countries.

Additional information about the company can be found on the Internet at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/ .

SOURCE: Whirlpool Corporation