KEI Organizes and Sends Aide Package to Hurricane Katrina Victims

Kujawa Enterprises, Incorporated collected nearly 3 tons of water, food, clothing and other supplies to distribute to Hurricane Katrina victims in the Jackson, Miss., area.

After contacting local clients, employees and friends, the family-owned landscape management business amassed more than a full truck and trailer load of supplies in less than a week. KEI connected with Hinds Community College in Raymond, Miss., where students and faculty of the school’s horticultural program found a home for the donated items at Community United Methodist Church in Jackson, Miss.

“People all over the Milwaukee area want to help, we are privileged to be able to provide the means to do that,” said KEI’s Founder Ron Kujawa.

On Friday, three KEI employees volunteered to drive nearly 1,700 miles roundtrip to deliver the supplies. Hinds is about 20 miles west of Jackson where the headquarters for the state’s relief effort is located. Currently, the state is housing more than 11,000 victims in 115 Red Cross shelters.

KEI’s efforts were part of a larger company campaign called MAGIS launched in July. MAGIS builds on the Jesuit tradition of striving for excellence in all that you do personally, professionally, and spiritually.  

“Before expecting more from our leaders, we should expect more from ourselves,” said Chris Kujawa, KEI’s executive vice president for marketing. “Someday we all might be just as much in need as these people are today.”

KEI plans to send down more shipments, said Joe Kujawa, executive vice president for operations.

“As long as people want to give and there is a need, we will provide a way to get these items to the folks who need them,” he said.

KEI, a fourth-generation, family-owned business, is a nationally recognized leader in the green industry with more than 150 professionals delivering services to more than 200 clients in Southeastern Wisconsin.