APCO's Jakarta office aiding Indonesian relief efforts

APCO employees have offered to help the government on messaging and outreach strategy, and the agency has allowed its Jakarta employees to volunteer with the relief effort.

"APCO is making itself available to the government," Kraus said. "And people are making themselves available individually as part of their civic concerns."

The agency worked with the previous Indonesian government on other projects and had been in contact with the new government, which was elected in April 2004, about possible future work, said Kraus. However, she stressed that the agency's only current concern is helping out however best it can.

The Asian country is believed to be the hardest hit by the tsunami, with over 90,000 reported dead and an estimated 400,000 bodies will be found by the time recovery is completed.

The 25-person office has also been in contact with APCO's global network to inform others what supplies and relief work are most crucial, according to Margery Kraus, global CEO and president.

"As soon as this happened, we said we should try to be as helpful as possible," Kraus said, adding that an APCO employee who went on vacation to Thailand was missing for a couple of days before being found. "We're grateful we didn't lose anyone."

This article was first published on PR Week USA

blog comments powered by Disqus