American Standard Brands Donates Hundreds of Plumbing Products to Rebuild New Orleans Community

Donation Will Help St. Bernard Project Reconstruct Hurricane-Damaged Homes

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – American Standard Brands will donate more than 1,500 plumbing fixtures and accessories to the St. Bernard Project (SBP) to help the non-profit organization rebuild homes in the hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, La., area.

The manufacturer of a wide range of kitchen and bath products, American Standard Brands is providing top-rated toilets, faucets, showerheads and accessories to support the St. Bernard Project’s Construction Program in the New Orleans area. The products will be used to rebuild homes for families who do not have the resources to repair the homes they own, in addition to supporting SBP’s Opportunity Housing Program, which renovates abandoned or blighted properties and converts them into properties for sale or rent.

Nearly six years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the New Orleans area, the need is still great: more than 200 families still live in FEMA trailers and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 10,000 families want to return to the homes they own, but do not have the resources to rebuild. Currently, these families live in other forms of temporary housing, including gutted or partially rebuilt homes, tiny apartments, or doubled and tripled up with family members. To date, SBP has engaged more than 34,000 volunteers to rebuild 380 homes.

“American Standard is proud to work with the St. Bernard Project to address the critical needs still facing those communities in New Orleans, to help them rebuild their homes and lives,” said Don Devine, president and CEO of American Standard Brands.

St. Bernard Project is an innovative, award-winning non-profit organization whose mission is to remove physical, mental, and emotional barriers for vulnerable families, senior citizens and disabled residents who are struggling to recover from the devastation and trauma caused by natural, manmade or economic disasters, while also serving as a model for disaster rebuilding and affordable housing.

“Corporate leaders such as American Standard reinforce our belief that although it has been nearly six years since Hurricane Katrina, residents are not forgotten and their humanity and citizenship are valued,” said St. Bernard Project CEO Zack Rosenburg. “We are thrilled that our staff, AmeriCorps members, and volunteers can incorporate these state-of-the-art, yet easy-to-install, plumbing products into SBP homes. Although the need in New Orleans is still great, partnerships such as these highlight that together, the problems here are indeed solvable.”

ABOUT AMERICAN STANDARD BRANDS

American Standard Brands is a leading North American manufacturer of a wide range of high-quality building products, including faucets, fixtures, furniture, vitreous china fixtures, cast iron sinks, whirlpool tubs and other wellness products for the bath and kitchen as well as decorative panels. The company currently offers total project solutions for residential and commercial customers; employs more than 5,000 people in the United States, Canada and Mexico; and markets products under well known and respected brands, such as American Standard®, Jado®, Porcher®, Safety Tubs®, Crane®, Eljer®, Fiat® and Decorative Panels International®. American Standard Brands is an affiliated portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners. For more information, visit www.americanstandard.com.