Tuesday, January 19, 2010 —

American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern traveled to Haiti today to visit relief operations and help coordinate the distribution of aid.

McGovern is meeting with Dr. Michaële Amédée Gedeon, president of the Haitian Red Cross, and will visit a first aid post outside the damaged American Red Cross headquarters. This is just one of 11 mobile posts where volunteers are working to treat wounded survivors. She will also visit a Red Cross relief distribution center where family kits, water and shelter supplies are being organized and given to survivors.

McGovern will meet with the Haitian government later today as a follow-up to a meeting held in the Dominican Republic on Monday, where Red Cross and government leaders from around the world gathered to organize a global response to unprecedented need in Haiti.

There are more than 400 Red Cross workers from around the world in Haiti, as well as thousands of local volunteers. In addition to the first aid posts, outreach teams are also aiding the injured in nearby camps. Red Cross responders from six countries are treating injuries and triaging people for surgery at hospitals and medical centers in Port-au-Prince, Carrefour and Jacmel.

Planes and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are arriving in the region every day, delivering much needed materials such as medical supplies, tarps, blankets, hygiene items, buckets, shelter supplies and kitchen sets. So far, more than 500 tons of Red Cross aid have been mobilized.

You can help the victims of countless crises, like the recent earthquake in Haiti, around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation by mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Donations to the International Response Fund can be made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at www.redcross.org.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.