Actor and philanthropist Paul Walker recently visited the Virginia Beach, Va., headquarters of Stihl Inc. to thank the company for its support of his relief organization Reach Out Worldwide (ROWW), a network of professionals with first-responder skill sets. Stihl Inc. is the exclusive handheld outdoor power equipment sponsor of ROWW, whose volunteers use their expertise after natural disasters strike to help accelerate relief efforts by augmenting local resources.
Walker and key members of his ROWW team visited Stihl Inc. in order to meet the employees involved in building the tools used in their worldwide relief efforts.
“We were honored to have the chance to see how the products we depend on are manufactured,” said Paul Walker, founder of ROWW. “It was obvious how genuinely enthusiastic the employees are, and the commitment to quality can be seen from the cleanliness of the facility to the fact that each product is tested before it leaves the factory.”
Recognized as the “Official Chain Saw” during ROWW missions such as relief for Hurricane Sandy victims, Stihl Inc. provides the necessary handheld outdoor power equipment to help the volunteers in their relief efforts and recovery processes, including chain saws, augers and cut-off machines, as well as equipment training in preparation for the domestic and international missions.
“We are inspired by the way Reach Out Worldwide impacts individuals. They show up to disaster sites and make a difference. We are proud to support their efforts in every way we can,” said Fred Whyte, president of Stihl Inc. “Knowing our products make their difficult work easier validates why we focus on providing durability and dependability in all of our equipment.”
Photos from the visit are available at https://bit.ly/rowwvisit and high-resolution imagery is available by request. More information on Reach Out Worldwide is at www.roww.org and on STIHL at www.stihlusa.com.