Alliance Laundry Systems and Distributor Donate Equipment to Japan in Wake of Earthquake and Tsunami

Soma Relief

City of Soma, Japan — Alliance Laundry Systems and its Japanese distributor, Daiwa Corporation, recently partnered to donate laundry equipment to those impacted by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The donation specifically helped people living in the city of Soma. In this area, more than 409 people died, 64 were reported missing and another 71 injured as a result of the disaster. Nearly 1,500 people were evacuated from the area and moved into eight shelters.

The shelters, however, were not equipped with laundry equipment. While hand washing clothing in sinks was an option, there was no place to hang items to dry.

In April, when there was access to the city, Daiwa, along with Alliance's Japan country manager, Shinji Gary Ikebe, loaded trucks and brought a donation of 20 Huebsch washers and dryers to the city and distributed them among the shelters.

"When you see that much devastation, it touches your life, you want to help," said Seishiro Miyazono, chief executive officer of Daiwa. "We were happy to have the opportunity to help these people and were glad we could offer some relief."

The laundry equipment donation is the largest to date in the area, worth an estimated $120,000.

"When you see such human suffering, and you have the means to offer some relief, you can't help but get involved," said Ikebe. "Alliance believes in partnering with the communities it serves and when we delivered the machines, it was a great day. We had such a warm welcome and, as a company, it was a proud moment to be able to offer that kind of support."

About Alliance Laundry Systems LLC: Based in Ripon, Wis., Alliance Laundry Systems LLC is a leading global manufacturer of commercial laundry products and provider of services to laundromats, multi-housing laundries and on-premises laundries. Alliance Laundry offers a full line of washers and dryers with load capacities from 12 to 200 pounds for commercial and consumer use. The company's products are sold under the well-known brand names Speed Queen®, UniMac®, Huebsch®, Cissell® and IPSO®.

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