RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The U-Haul Company of Richmond is offering 30 days of free storage to families whose homes or businesses have been damaged by Hurricane Earl.

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In addition to the 30-days-free self-storage assistance being offered, people needing boxes can take advantage of the U-Haul Take a Box, Leave a Box Program. The program enables customers to return their reusable boxes and allows others to take them as needed - FREE. U-Haul encourages anyone who has any type of reusable box to drop it off at the nearest U-Haul location and allow another family to reuse the box, free of charge, instead of throwing the reusable box into the recycling bin. U-Haul also has propane available and urges customers to stop in to ensure that their propane tanks are topped off, since propane is a good thing to have on hand when these storms come through.

Families needing more information about the 30-days-free self-storage assistance program should contact the following regional office to locate the participating storage facility nearest them.

    U-Haul Company of Richmond
    900 North Lombardy Street
    Richmond, VA 23220
    (888) 313-9821
    (804) 342-4296

"Hurricane Earl has already caused and will continue to cause tremendous damage to the communities we serve," stated Amy Cox, president, U-Haul Company of Richmond. "I hope these efforts will provide assistance to families that truly need a helping hand if their homes or businesses were affected by this hurricane. We will continue to help our friends and neighbors during their time of need."

About U-Haul

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the choice for the do-it-yourself mover, with a network of more than 16,300 locations in all 50 States and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the Company to maintain the largest rental fleet in the "do-it-yourself" moving industry with approximately 98,000 trucks, 77,000 trailers and 34,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 402,000 rooms and approximately 35.5 million square feet of storage space at nearly 1,100 owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the consumer's number one choice as the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. The Company supplies alternative-fuel for vehicles and backyard barbecues as one of the nation's largest retailers of propane.

U-Haul was founded by a Navy veteran who grew up during the Great Depression. Tires and gas were still rationed or in short supply during the late 1940s when U-Haul began serving U.S. customers. Today, that background is central to the U-Haul Sustainability Program: "Serving the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Our commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle includes fuel efficient moving vans, neighborhood proximity, moving-box reuse, moving pads made from discarded material, and packing peanuts that are 100 percent biodegradable. Learn more about these facts and others at uhaul.com/sustainability.

    Contact:
    Joanne Fried
    Ashleigh Wagner
    U-Haul Public Relations
    (602) 263-6194
    publicrelations@uhaul.com

SOURCE U-Haul