Domino Donates Sugar To Superstorm Sandy Relief Effort

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Help for those hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy comes in many forms, but none quite so sweet as what's coming from Baltimore.

Alex DeMetrick reports Domino Sugar is donating tons of its product to the relief effort.

Thirty thousand pounds of sugar and sugar products might seem like the last thing storm victims in New York and New Jersey need...but think about what you've had to eat and drink today.

"Sugar is a main part of our diet, as much as people might not like to think that. It's a staple," said Domino Refinery Manager Stu Fitzgibbon.

At Mobil Red Cross and Church Kitchens, it a staple going into a lot of meals for people still out of their homes.

"We're going to have some awesome hot food for the folks," said one Red Cross volunteer.

What isn't used here will go to help restock pantries ruined by Sandy. The sugar donation is actually the second wave of aid from Baltimore's plant.

Because refineries depend on ships, plants are built on the water. When the Domino refinery flooded in Yonkers, Baltimore pitched in to get it back up and running.

"We sent employees up there to help with the work and brought equipment down from the Yonkers plant to fix it and this plant had to rock and roll to supply our customers," Fitzgibbon said.

Besides sugar, employees and the company are also making cash donations to the Red Cross.

"There's a deep cultural ethic at all our plants about giving back. This is not a new thing," Fitzgibbon said.

Distributed in half-pound allotments, sugar from Domino could reach as many as 60,000 storm victims.