Metro Detroit Businesses Generously Step up for Haitian Relief Efforts
(DETROIT – February 4, 2010) - Metro Detroit businesses, both large and small, have gotten behind American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti, following the devastating earthquake.
Health Alliance Plan (HAP) and its parent company, Henry Ford Health System, set up an online donation site for Red Cross relief efforts, after an outpouring from employees expressing the desire to help. Henry Ford Health System is matching employee donations up to a total of $10,000. As of last Friday, employees at both companies throughout southeast Michigan had donated $24,069, equaling $34,069 with the company match.
The Detroit Medical Center (DMC) also set up an online donation link to the Red Cross Haiti relief fund, allowing its nearly 12,000 employees in eight hospitals to contribute directly. As of Friday, DMC employees had contributed $18,800.
Quicken Loans 3,000 team members in metro-Detroit, Cleveland, Oh and Scottsdale, Ariz., have all stepped-up to contribute to the Red Cross’ relief efforts. Team members have several ways to contribute, including payroll deduction. The company is also matching all donations dollar-for-dollar with no set maximum.
Quicken Loans has also held several fund-raisers including jeans days and a pot-luck lunch fundraiser. While fundraisers are ongoing, Quicken Loans has already raised $30,000.
The General Motors Foundation donated $100,000 to the Red Cross relief fund, and also set up a web link where employees can donate to the Red Cross.
Ford Motor Co. also set up a web link for employees to donate to the Red Cross, and pledged a generous matching grant.
TRW Automotive is raising money through a charity jeans day next Thursday, where all 300 employees at its Washington, Mich. location are encouraged to wear jeans in exchange for contributing at least $5 for Red Cross relief efforts.
Two Detroit Tigers got in the action in a big way. Outfielder Magglio Ordonez donated $100,000 to Red Cross Haitian relief efforts, and first baseman Miguel Cabrera gave $90,000 to Project Medishare for Haiti Inc., which is providing medical relief.
The Detroit Tigers also invited Red Cross volunteers from the Southeastern Michigan Chapter to its recent TigerFest to collect contributions from fans for Haitian relief, and the ball club raised additional money through fundraisers and pitched in a matching grant.
At Valassis, its Giving Committee set up an internal pledge drive, where its roughly 5,000 US-based employees made pledges for the Red Cross via company email. So far, employees have made donations of about $10,000 for the cause.
Other organizations that are raising money for Red Cross Haitian relief efforts include:
The Detroit Red Wings Foundation, which is donating money from a recent 50/50 fundraising raffle.
Chrysler Financial, which is raising money through a charity jeans day.
GST AutoLeather, which gave a substantial company donation.
The City of Southfield, whose staff is putting on various fundraisers.
All kinds of smaller organizations have been equally generous in their support - from schools, restaurants and grocery stores, to senior apartment centers and places of worship. Collection plates have been passed around. Schools have held fundraisers, such as charging $1 to wear a cap, and restaurants have donated proceeds from dinners. Another organization held a drop-in “Yoga for Haiti” charity class.
Red Cross Haiti Response Update:
Logistical problems are getting smaller, and the humanitarian pipeline is opening wider each day, but the needs in Haiti are still immense.
So far, more than 64 flights carrying Red Cross aid have arrived in Haiti.
Four Red Cross warehouses are open and operating at full capacity.
The Red Cross is now producing 1 million liters of water per day, enough for 185,000 people to receive 5.4 liters per day. Teams are preparing to latrine construction, also.
To date, Red Cross distributions of food and relief items (blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, buckets, water containers, laundry soap/detergent, and mosquito nets) have reached nearly 100,000 people (or 20,000 families).
The Red Cross, in partnership with UNICEF and the World Health Organization, will begin a vaccination program this Friday to vaccinate 150,000 children against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. The Red Cross will also be teaching basic health skills, and emotional support teams will be helping children with the emotional trauma.
At the six Red Cross health facilities, a total of 1,200 patients are being treated each day.
Because of the generosity of donors, people in Haiti will receive more than immediate relief – they will receive resources, support and training from the Red Cross that will help them for years to come.
About the American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter
The American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter is a non-profit humanitarian organization that turns caring into action by providing three core services for residents in the tri-county area: relief to disaster victims, support to military personnel (both active and veteran) and their families, and the knowledge and skills to help the community prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. We are volunteer-driven and reflect the diversity of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. As part of the international Red Cross network, we are dedicated to protecting human life and dignity locally, nationally and worldwide.
To learn more, log on to www.semredcross.org or follow our blog at www.semtourofduty.org.
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Read MoreFrom piggybanks to prize heifers, Americans support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti
Friday, January 29, 2010 — Whether it’s a bake sale, money from a piggybank, the sale of a prize heifer or a boy’s donation of the dollar the tooth fairy left him, people of all ages from across the United States have been extraordinarily generous in their support of American Red Cross relief operations in Haiti.
Their donations have enabled the Red Cross to focus on feeding people in Haiti, on providing clean drinking water, and on distributing shelter items.
“We are very grateful to everyone who has supported our efforts in Haiti,” said Jerry DeFrancisco, President, American Red Cross Humanitarian Services. “The American Red Cross has been working in Haiti with our fellow Red Cross/Red Crescent national societies from around the globe. This generosity allows the Red Cross to not only offer Haiti immediate relief, but to also take part in planning to help the people of Haiti recover and rebuild in the coming years.”
Touching stories have emerged about some of those who made donations to help the people in Haiti. For instance, in New Orleans, five-year-old Yahzarah and her mom came to the Southeast Louisiana Red Cross Chapter in New Orleans with the child’s piggybank and donated its contents - $44.70
In Detroit, a man appeared at the Southeastern Michigan Red Cross Chapter in Detroit and donated a crisp $100 bill to help the people in Haiti. His coat was duct-taped, his shoes had holes, and he had to take the bus to the Red Cross office.
Thirty-nine people gathered together in New York City to give to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund by texting the word “Haiti” to 90999. The group raised $390 to help the people in Haiti and recorded their efforts. Nearly 3 million donors have followed suit around the country and made a text donation to support Red Cross efforts in Haiti.
In Bluffton, S.C., three young sisters raised $133 by holding a bake sale to raise money for the American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti following a kindergarten class assignment to collect 100 of any item they wanted. They decided to hold a bake sale and try to collect 100 dollar bills.
In Spring Creek, FL, ten-year-old Austin won a contest among local fifth graders for an essay he wrote on the Transcontinental Railroad. His prize was $30, which he donated to the American Red Cross for Haiti. His family members matched his donation. Four-year-old Max lives in Denver, CO, and had $37 in his Tzedakah, or charity box, from an allowance he gets for picking up his toys and making his bed. He wanted his money to go to the American Red Cross.
An eight-year-old resident of Williamstown, NJ, sent this letter to American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, DC. “Dear American Red Cross: I heard Haiti had an earthquake. This dollar is for them. It is from the tooth fairy.”
And perhaps the most unusual - a ranch in North Dakota donated five bred heifers for the American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. The heifers were to be auctioned off at the stock yards in Aberdeen, proceeds of which went to the Red Cross International Relief Fund.
People all over the United States are helping with events such as concerts, food sales and raffles. One school is trying to come up with a “Mile of Quarters”. Another is making chains of $1 paper hearts and having different classes compete to make the longest chain. Touched by the plight of the people in Haiti, they are doing what they can to raise funds for the Red Cross relief efforts in the ravaged Caribbean country.
The American Red Cross is sending 3 million pre-packaged meals, which are scheduled to arrive over the weekend. Family-sized tents with tarps, ropes, and tools to construct them are already being distributed.
Red Cross responders are also distributing hygiene kits, water purification tablets and blankets. Creole-speaking American Red Cross volunteers are onboard the hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, to serve as interpreters for Haitian patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military. The Red Cross is also meeting the health needs of Haitian survivors and providing support to Haitian families in Haiti and the US. This includes the shipment of blood products, family linking services and providing Red Cross volunteers to the USNS Comfort, which have been in Haiti for one week.
If you would like to help, mobile donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to make a $10 contribution. You can also help by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at www.redcross.org.
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.
Snapshots from Haiti
By Joe Lowry, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Monday, January 25, 2010 — A Survivor
The first time we saw four-year-old Joe was heartbreaking.
He was barely able to sit, wiping crumbs off the little cardboard mat that had become his home. He cleared a space to sleep, like his mother would have done, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped into a daze.
Joe came from nowhere. Someone noticed him lying naked on the ground and he was brought to the Red Cross field hospital in the center of Haiti’s shattered capital.
Mageli St. Simon, a Haitian Red Cross volunteer, started taking care of him. “His head was injured,” she said. “And he was sick; maybe malaria, maybe typhoid.”
St. Simon started to interact with the sick child, and after a day or so, she got his name. She gave him a pen and paper, and he drew his mother and father. Then she gave him a toy phone.
“He started speaking to his mother. I asked him what she was saying. He told me, ‘She says don’t look for me, I’m dead.’ I don’t know how he knew, someone must have told him before he got lost.”
Three days on, Joe’s doing well. He's still sick, but is taking water and a little food. He draws us a cross. I tell him my name is Joe too, and he gives me a long, deep look.
He’s a beautiful, fragile little boy, with a slight squint that makes him look even more vulnerable; it makes you want to protect him.
St. Simon agrees. “You have to really know yourself before you know other people,” she said. “That’s why I take care of Joe, to know what he needs. I can’t give people any money, but I can help in my own way.”
If Joe has no family members who can take on the responsibility of caring for him, the little boy will go to an orphanage as soon as a suitable organization working with orphans can be found. And he’ll do fine. He’s a survivor.
A Relief Worker
Grim reality has a way of knocking at the door for the aid workers in Haiti. That was certainly true for American Red Cross relief worker Steve McAndrew, who is serving as the head of the global Red Cross relief operation in Haiti.
“I was walking across the parking lot when a voice said, ‘Sir, can you help me?’ I said, ‘I’m really sorry, this isn’t a hospital.’ She screamed, and it was then that I saw the baby in her arms. He was small, maybe four or six months old, and he had a drip in his leg. He was foaming at the mouth and his chest was heaving up and down, up and down," McAndrew remembers.
"I called over two of my medical colleagues. They put the baby in the shade and started to check him over. Then a surgeon came over and said the kid had to get to hospital fast.”
We had to be quite aggressive to clear the dozens of cars and trucks that were in the way. We weren’t expecting a critically ill child to be brought in," McAndrew said.
The boy was sped to the Red Cross field hospital, where he was received by Dr. Hossam Elsharkawi. The baby's condition was so severe that he needed immediate ventilation and was rushed by helicopter to the USNS Comfort, an offshore floating hospital run by the military, where American Red Cross volunteers are serving as interpreters.
“We don’t now if he will survive or not, but he’s in the best possible place,” said Elsharkawi.
A Local Volunteer
Tessa is 22 years old and has the world at her feet. She just graduated from a university in Florida, where she studied biology and public health. A month before the earthquake, she came home to Haiti to have some time off, look for a job and think about settling down in the land she loves.
Then her world turned upside down. Although her family escaped tragedy, there was no question about where she would go: the Red Cross. Her father, Dr. Guiteau Jean-Pierre, is an executive committee member of the Haitian National Red Cross Society, so within hours of the disaster, Tessa—like thousands of others—was volunteering.
Her background and trilingualism made her a natural candidate to work at a Red Cross field hospital in Delmas, a heavily hit part of the capital. The devastation all around, and the harrowing stories she hears and sees every day, bring her down.
“Oh God, I love this country so much,” she sighed. “But I wonder if the hope will ever come back. Right now I am questioning if I want to stay here, if I can raise children here. I just don’t know. It’s so sad.”
But then she brightens, secure in the knowledge that she’s doing the right thing—the only thing she can do to help those less fortunate.
“Maybe the hope will come back. This is such a great country.”
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.
Volunteers to Assemble Comfort Kits as Red Cross Campaign Wraps Up
January 22, 2010
What:
Nursing students, along with Red Cross volunteers and staff will be assembling Comfort Kits from the large amounts of donated toiletry items that were donated to the Southeastern Michigan Chapter’s Comfort Days campaign, which ran from late November to mid January.
The Comfort Kits will be used for local Emergency Services, for families who suffer a home or apartment fire, as well as members of the military who are being deployed.
When:
The assembling of the Comfort Kits will take place on Tuesday, January 26, from noon until 2 p.m. (It may go longer, depending on the amount of time it takes.)
Where:
The Comfort Days headquarters, 141 W. Maple, downtown Birmingham.
Why:
The Southeastern Michigan Chapter of the Red Cross has seen an increase in the need for its Emergency Services, providing relief to area families following an emergency such as a home or apartment fire. Now more than ever, the Southeastern Michigan Chapter is relying on the public’s support to continue providing Emergency Services locally.
About the American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter
The American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter is a non-profit humanitarian organization that turns caring into action by providing three core services for residents in the tri-county area: relief to disaster victims, support to military personnel (both active and veteran) and their families, and the knowledge and skills to help the community prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. We are volunteer-driven and reflect the diversity of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. As part of the international Red Cross network, we are dedicated to protecting human life and dignity locally, nationally and worldwide.
To learn more, log on to www.semredcross.org or follow our blog at www.semtourofduty.org.
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American Red Cross President Witnesses Haiti’s Need Firsthand
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.
American Red Cross Provides First Aid, Supplies in Croix Deprez
WASHINGTON, Monday, January 18, 2010 — Outside the damaged American Red Cross office in Croix Deprez, volunteers from Haiti and around the world are working side-by-side to clean and stitch wounds amidst the earthquake’s rubble. Outreach teams are also traveling through the neighborhood camps today, providing basic relief items, such as tarps, blankets, jerry cans for water and hygiene supplies.
“Groups of Haitian Red Cross youth volunteers will comb the worst-hit neighborhoods, street by street, promoting safe hygiene practices and encouraging people to come to the first aid posts,” said Winnie Romeril, a volunteer with the American Red Cross in Haiti.
American Red Cross President & CEO Gail McGovern is in the Dominican Republic, meeting with other Red Cross and government leaders today to help coordinate a global response to unprecedented need in Haiti. On Tuesday, she will travel to Haiti to visit American Red Cross relief distribution points.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited American Red Cross workers this afternoon in the disaster operations center at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The President showed gratitude to the employees and volunteers, and said, “tip-top operation, thank you and keep it up; you make us very proud.”
Over the weekend, planes and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance arrived in the region, delivering a field hospital and much needed materials such as tarps, blankets, hygiene items, buckets, shelter supplies and kitchen sets. Three additional shipments of relief items should arrive on Monday and Tuesday in the Dominican Republic before being trucked into Haiti.
Red Cross teams from around the world spent the weekend coordinating and delivering clean drinking water to survivors gathering in six different communities as well as hospitals and makeshift medical facilities.
In the days ahead, the Red Cross will begin to provide supplies for temporary shelters in Haiti. Kits, containing tarps, rope and tools, as well as tents and blankets, will be made available for an initial 20,000 families.
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.
Mayor Dave Bing Gives Check to Red Cross for Haitian Relief Efforts
(DETROIT) - American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti received another boost this morning, when Detroit Mayor Dave Bing presented the Southeastern Michigan Chapter of the Red Cross with a check for $3,500. They money was donated by the mayor and his executive staff, and he is pledging there will be more to come.
Besides tapping his executive staff, the mayor sent out an email late last week urging all city employees to donate to the Red Cross relief efforts. Mayor Bing gave the first check to Southeastern Michigan Chapter CEO James Laverty this morning at the mayor’s office.
Laverty thanked the mayor, saying “We are extremely grateful for this heartfelt support of our organization’s relief efforts in Haiti. I would also like to thank you for your effort in encouraging others to do the same.”
Last week, the mayor sent an email to city employees urging them to help out. "The devastation in Haiti is one that requires our immediate attention and support,” the mayor told employees. “I encourage those who are able, to support the relief effort through the American Red Cross.
“It is our responsibility and duty as Detroiters and Americans to minimize human suffering, and help those in need.”
In addition to accepting the check, Laverty also gave the mayor an update on current Red Cross relief efforts. “We have a long way to go, and it will require a great deal of support from the public,” he added.
As of Saturday, the American Red Cross has raised more than $87 million for relief efforts. Yet Red Cross officials know they will spend much more than that to help the people of Haiti.
People can donate in support of this relief effort by going to www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS. Mobile donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to make a $10 donation. People can also mail their donations to: The American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington D.C., 20013.
About the American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter
The American Red Cross, Southeastern Michigan Chapter is a non-profit humanitarian organization that turns caring into action by providing three core services for residents in the tri-county area: relief to disaster victims, support to military personnel (both active and veteran) and their families, and the knowledge and skills to help the community prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. We are volunteer-driven and reflect the diversity of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. As part of the international Red Cross network, we are dedicated to protecting human life and dignity locally, nationally and worldwide.
To learn more, log on to www.semredcross.org or follow our blog at www.semtourofduty.org.
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Contact Andrea Tomaszewski
313-494-2740
Read MoreLarry King Hosting Special to Support Red Cross Haiti Relief
Sunday, January 17, 2010 — CNN’s Larry King is hosting a two-hour special Monday at 8 p.m. EST, bringing celebrities and leaders together to inspire support for the American Red Cross relief effort in Haiti.
The CNN Special — “Larry King Live: Haiti: How You Can Help” — will point out how people can help survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Guests will join Larry King in the studio and via satellite. CNN’s Campbell Brown will report Haiti news updates throughout the program.
Among those scheduled to appear are:
Ashley Judd Queen Rania
Ben Stiller Ringo Starr
Benicio del Toro Russell Simmons
Charles Barkley Ryan Seacrest
Christian Slater Sarah Ferguson
Colin Powell Scarlett Johansson
Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon Seal
Jared Leto Snoop Dogg
Jeff Probst Susan Sarandon
Joel and Benji Madden Tea Leoni
John Mayer Tom DeLonge
Kobe Bryant Tommy LaSorda
Mick Jagger Will.i.Am
Pras Michel
The CNN special will also benefit UNICEF, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund.
Red Cross staff and volunteers from around the globe are reaching out to help the people of Haiti. First aid posts have been set up in the streets, where Red Cross workers and volunteers from Haiti and other countries are working side by side to clean and stitch up wounds amidst the rubble.
The Red Cross is setting up a field hospital in one area and a water trucking program and latrines in another. The USS Comfort is also enroute to Haiti, and the American Red Cross is training Creole-speaking volunteers to work as translators when Haitians come aboard for medical care.
More supplies and staff are on the way. If you would like to donate to Haiti relief, visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS. Mobile donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to make a $10 contribution.
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.
Haitian Red Cross at the Heart of Relief
By Gennike Mayers, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, reporting from Port-au-Prince
Sunday, January 17, 2010 — At the St. Pierre square in Pétionville – a small suburb to the east of Port-au-Prince – hundreds of earthquake survivors have taken refuge. Families have set up make-shift tents using sheets, curtains or whatever could be salvaged from their crumbled homes.
Across the road, just a few meters away, is a small branch of the Red Cross working out of a garage beneath the Mayor’s office. It bears very little resemblance to a first aid station - the space is cramped and full of cars. But these are some of the conditions to be overcome in order to provide support to injured, explains one Red Cross volunteer.
“It may not be the best place with all these cars around but plenty of people are coming in and we are caring for them,” says Rita Aristide, a Haitian Red Cross volunteer since 1999. ”We have been dressing wounds for hundreds of people already.”
The range of injuries vary from scrapes and scratches to deep gashes, open head wounds, and fractured arms and legs.
Dr. Grégory Gué, a physician from the southern town of Jacmel travelled to Port-au-Prince to work alongside Red Cross volunteers.
“I came where there was need. We have to do what we can to help our people. Haiti needs all the help it can get. Help will come from outside very soon but we also have to help ourselves,” he explains.
Among the steady stream of wounded persons receiving medical attention from Dr. Gué and the Red Cross first aid team were two pregnant women who suffered damage to their backs during the quake. Both had been hit by falling blocks. One of the women lost her child. They were brought over on stretchers from the square to the Red Cross station. Serious injuries, like these, are being treated where possible and referred to the nearest hospital.
On January 16, a Red Cross convey arrived in Port-au-Prince, having travelled overland from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It included a 50-bed hospital. Earlier in the day, the first of three basic health care teams landed in the city as well. This unit can provide basic but vital heath care to 30,000 people.
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
Red Cross Aid Reaches Haitian Earthquake Survivors
American Red Cross President & CEO Gail McGovern to travel to Port-au-Prince Monday
National Headquarters
2025 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
www.redcross.org
Contact: Public Affairs Desk
FOR MEDIA ONLY
media@usa.redcross.org
Phone: (202) 303-5551
WASHINGTON, Saturday, January 16, 2010 —
Truckloads of Red Cross supplies arrived in Port-au-Prince today and thousands of responders are traveling the streets providing water and first aid as well as finding lost loved ones and transporting people with serious injuries to nearby health facilities.
“America’s support – donations made in the United States to the American Red Cross – is reaching the hands of survivors in Haiti,” said Steve McAndrew, disaster relief specialist with the American Red Cross in Port-au-Prince.
Within the convoy that arrived today are 50-bed field hospitals and purification equipment capable of producing 10,000 gallons of drinking water per day. The mobile hospitals have a dedicated section to help people cope with emotional trauma. Toys and specially-trained volunteers will be available to comfort children, who are particularly vulnerable.
An additional seven truckloads of equipment and materials including medical supplies, that were on Red Cross planes re-routed to Dominican Republic Friday, are traveling overland and are expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince by Sunday. Two flights will arrive in the capital city, carrying enough relief supplies for more than 32,000 families, on Monday as well.
The American Red Cross team and responders from more than 30 countries, totaling more than 100, have now arrived and are providing a wide-range of support, including food, water, field hospitals, emotional support and sanitation services.
“We are working with the Haitian Red Cross volunteers, who have intimate knowledge of the community,” said McAndrew. “Survivors are receiving aid from their neighbors, who they know and trust, with support from the international community.”
How to Help
* We are not accepting volunteers to travel to Haiti. If you would like to volunteer for the American Red Cross, please contact your local chapter.
* Persons in Haiti and abroad can search for and register the names of relatives missing since the earthquake at www.icrc.org/familylinks. The International Committee of the Red Cross is helping to reconnect separated families within the country.
* People trying to locate U.S. citizens living or traveling in Haiti should contact the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services, at 1-888-407-4747 or (202) 647-5225.
On Monday, American Red Cross President & CEO Gail McGovern will travel to Port-au-Prince to join other Red Cross leaders in assessing the relief efforts and planning for long-term recovery.
“Our focus now is on the immediate relief for the people of Haiti, but make no mistake, this is going to be a massive long-term recovery operation,” McGovern said.
Since the earthquake struck, more than 19,300 people have registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross-sponsored Web site (www.icrc.org/familylinks) helping to reconnect families separated during the earthquake. Almost all of the registrations were from people searching for news about their relatives, although around 1,400 people have so far used the site to say they are safe and well.
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.