Coca-Cola’s Latin America operating group donates $1 million to Haiti relief efforts

Coca-Cola’s Latin America group gives $1M to Haiti

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola Co.’s Latin America operating group donated $1 million to the Red Cross for relief efforts in Haiti, the world’s largest soft drink maker said Thursday.

The donation is in addition to another $1 million the company’s charitable arm donated last week following the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.

The company, based in Atlanta, also said its bottler in Haiti is operating again and it hopes to provide water in bulk to organizations by this weekend. Coca-Cola has already been shipping in 4,000 cases of bottled water and other products daily from the Dominican Republic.

Coca-Cola has donated advertising time in the U.S. to get people to contribute to relief efforts. The company’s electronic billboards in 25 markets are being used to promote donations to the Red Cross.

The company also donated a previously scheduled 30-second advertisement that aired during American Idol Wednesday night to the Red Cross, to run an ad featuring first lady Michelle Obama.

On Friday, Coca-Cola plans to match donations made through its rewards sites MyCokeRewards.com and LivePositively.com. Consumers can donate dollars and rewards points.