/PRNewswire/ - The Noritz Group has announced that it will donate a total of $150,000 to help relief and recovery efforts in Japanese communities affected by the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northern region of the country on March 11.

As part of its corporate donation, Noritz has launched a number of charity initiatives designed to broaden its support for the disaster relief fund:

• Pay It Forward: Drawing on the popular "Pay It Forward" philanthropic concept, Noritz will contribute $1 for each new Noritz Facebook fan or Twitter follower between now and April 30, up to a maximum of $5,000.
• Employees: Noritz associates will be able to add their financial support through payroll deductions or by earmarking accrued vacation hours to be donated to the relief effort.
• Customers: Noritz will engage its trade customers by soliciting relief donations during all on-site contractor training programs and customer counter days in 2011.

"The earthquake in Japan has reminded us just how small and interconnected our world has become," says Bob Hitchner, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Noritz in North America. "Some Noritz associates had family members in the earthquake zone, while others of us just happened to watch the devastation on television."

"But all of us are fortunate to be in a position to offer assistance to the displaced survivors who must begin rebuilding their lives and their communities," continues Hitchner, speaking on behalf of the Noritz Group.

The Noritz Group is the wholly owned American subsidiary of Japan-based Noritz Corporation, the largest global producer of tankless water heaters. The company's water heaters are manufactured in the western part of Japan, so the earthquake did not directly disrupt its operations.

"Our supply chain has held up very well under the strain of this unfathomable disaster," says Hitchner, "but we are keeping a close eye on port congestion and other factors that might still cause shipment delays."

Noritz is sponsoring a special online donation website as a vehicle for its employees and suppliers to help the earthquake survivors through the American Red Cross. To learn more and to donate, visit http://american.redcross.org/noritz-pub.

For hi-res images to accompany this article, please visit: http://noritz.oreilly-depalma.com/2011/earthquake-relief.shtml.

About Noritz Group
NORITZ GROUP, a subsidiary of Noritz Japan, has corporate offices in Fountain Valley, Calif., as well as in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Hawthorne, N.Y. For more information on Noritz America and the entire line of Noritz's ENERGY STAR® certified tankless water heaters, please call (877) 986-6748 or visit our website at www.Noritz.com.

Noritz Group

Noritz Group

NORITZ GROUP, a subsidiary of Noritz Japan, has corporate offices in Fountain Valley, Calif., as well as in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Hawthorne, N.Y. For more information on Noritz America and the entire line of Noritz's ENERGY STAR® certified tankless water heaters, please call (877) 986-6748 or visit our website at www.Noritz.com.

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