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“When there are natural disasters, such as during Katrina, the local Walmarts often provide a lot of free merchandise to the communities in trouble. “

I hate to tell you, but Walmart didn’t give away anything for free after Katrina. All they did was rake in the money.

Meanwhile many of the locally owned businesses gave away free services and restaurants gave away tens of thousands of free meals. One that I know of gave away over 70,000 free meals.

I hate to tell you, but Walmart didn’t give away anything for free after Katrina. All they did was rake in the money.

These folks say otherwise:

Walmart Katrina Response

excerpt: Over the next few days, Wal-Mart's response to Katrina -- an unrivaled $20 million in cash donations, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers -- has turned the chain into an unexpected lifeline for much of the Southeast and earned it near-universal praise at a time when the company is struggling to burnish its image.

Walmart Heroic Efforts

Walmart Praised for Katrina Efforts

"I hate to tell you, but Walmart didn’t give away anything for free after Katrina. All they did was rake in the money."

I have no axe to grind on this issue, but perhaps there were some exceptions to that.

MSN Money

Extra4/2/2008 5:00 PM ET

Real Katrina hero? Wal-Mart, study says

Empowered to 'do the right thing,' employees gave away supplies and offered sleeping space after the 2005 hurricane.

Local knowledge allowed big-box retailers to respond before FEMA could.

Excerpt

The report calls out several examples of that principle in action:

A Kenner, La., employee used a forklift to knock open a warehouse door to get water for a retirement home.

In Marrero, La., employees allowed police officers to use the store as a headquarters and a sleeping place, as many had lost their homes.

In Waveland, Miss., assistant manager Jessica Lewis ran a bulldozer through her store to collect basics that were not water-damaged, which she then piled in the parking lot and gave away to residents. She also broke into the store's locked pharmacy to supply critical drugs to a hospital.

Though some price-gouging does occur during disasters, Horwitz's report details how Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's sent truckloads of free supplies to the hardest-hit areas in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

A convoy of Wal-Mart trucks carrying supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina waits to enter New Orleans three days after the storm hit.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHome/RealKatrinaHeroWalMartStudySays.aspx