By Charlie Laughtland
BDA blog editor

BDA joined forces with Bank of America and Costco to contribute to the relief efforts underway following the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

Bank of America wanted to send care packages to its 1,700 employees and their families in Japan. As a longtime BDA client, Bank of America knows we have both the capability to help carry out such an idea and the desire to lend our support.

"Bank of America and BDA share the same commitment to team and family and taking care of our people," BDA CEO Jay Deutsch said. "It was inspiring to see how our team rallied around the cause and jumped at the chance to help facilitate this effort. When such tragedies occur, we are fortunate that our expertise and resources can make a difference."

Facing extreme time constraints to procure the mass quantities of supplies needed by Bank of America, Deutsch reached out to Costco and explained the situation. Our team was put in touch with the right people to track down the goods we needed quickly.

Two days later, a semi truck jam-packed with items from eight local Costco stores arrived at the BDA Woodinville warehouse. BDA and Bank of America volunteers assembled kits of toilet paper, bottled water, Nutri-Grain Bars, Top Ramen and Cup Noodles.

Bank of America provided a spreadsheet of employee addresses and our logistics department worked closely with FedEx to get the packages safely through Customs and to the families within two days.