A shipment of lumber from White River Forest Products will be used to rebuild Houston-area homes destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in August.
The northwestern Ontario company donated more than $20,000 worth of 8-foot 2X4 lumber in response to a challenge issued by Resolute Forest Products to other Canadian lumber manufacturers.
Resolute contributed a rail-car load of lumber.
Frank Dottori, CEO of the community-based White River Forest Products, spurred his own team to mobilize in response to the challenge.
"We're proud of our product, and we wanted to help, so we made it happen. We hope this will turn up the pressure on other lumber companies to follow suit to help people affected by Mother Nature's rampages on both coasts, in Florida and in Houston, alike," he said Monday in a statement announcing the shipment.
Habitat for Humanity in Houston is in the process of gutting wrecked homes prior to rebuilding them.
"This has been a very emotional time for many Houstonians, and this donation of lumber will truly help raise spirits," Habitat Houston ReStore manager Matt Murphy said in an email to the company.
A Texas company donated the shipping of the lumber.
White River Forest Products is owned by private investors, Pic Mobert First Nation and the White River Economic Development Corporation.
