When Hurricane Rita hit Texas and Louisiana in September 2005, the country was still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina had demonstrated that the community was not adequately prepared for a disaster of such magnitude, and that early preparation to enable rapid relief was essential. Anticipating similar devastation from Rita, Abbott, a pharmaceutical company, was determined to be ready to help. Its Emergency Coordination team contacted its partner, Direct Relief International, to identify critical medicines and supplies that could be pre-positioned at the NGO’s headquarters in Santa worth of products which the NGO quickly deployed to its partners in high risk areas.