OREANDA-NEWS. UPS® (NYSE: UPS) today announced it is providing transportation support and commitments totaling USD 400,000 in gifts-in-kind (GIK) for urgent relief items to combat the deadly Ebola outbreak which has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 individuals in West Africa.

"UPS and The UPS Foundation are responding to the World Health Organization's plea for increased international response," said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation.

The company is providing the following transport services at no cost to relief agencies:

Sponsored a Humanitarian Relief charter flight for UNICEF from Liege, Belgium, to Monrovia, Liberia, on August 29. The aircraft is carrying 55 metric tons of HTH dry chlorine disinfectant on behalf of the Liberian Ministry of Health to assist in hygiene activities at Ebola treatment centers in Liberia. More than 40 percent of the confirmed Ebola deaths have occurred in Liberia.

Expedited the trucking of 10 pallets (6,800 lbs) of supplies for Medshare from Decatur, Ga., to New York's JFK Airport, to be placed on a humanitarian flight arranged by Airlink. UPS has also committed an additional USD 75,000 GIK to Medshare for ocean transport.

Transported five pallets (2,500 lbs) of aid supplies for ChildFund from Tampa, Fla., to New York's JFK Airport to connect to a donated charter.

Transported nine pallets (4,745 lbs) of Ebola supplies from Savage, Md., to New York's JFK Airport for the National Organization of Sierra Leoneans in North America (NOSLINA). These items were expedited to Sierra Leone on a donated charter.

Committing to provide Africare & Direct Relief International transportation of five ocean shipments estimated at USD 30,000-USD 35,000.

Collaborating with the CDC Foundation and UPS customer Henry Schein, which has committed to donate personal protection equipment to support the CDC's efforts.

UPS has a long history of working with disaster relief organizations to deliver critical, life-saving aid to communities in need around the world. In 2013, UPS provided USD 7.5 million in humanitarian relief funding and assisted with 250 humanitarian shipments across 46 countries.