The American Red Cross Increases Aid To Haiti

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 08 Oct 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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The American Red Cross is contributing $600,000 for relief operations in areas of Haiti affected by a series of powerful hurricanes. Of the contribution, $500,000 is a grant from the U.S. Government's Agency for International Development/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and will contribute to relief supplies including hygiene kits, buckets, mosquito nets, and five trained disaster workers. The additional $100,000 will be used for the procurement and distribution of shelter kits.

"Haitian Red Cross volunteers worked around the clock before and after these storms hit in rapid succession. They carried out evacuations, search and rescue, assisted in government-run shelters, provided first aid, assessed damages and distributed much-needed relief supplies," says Guillermo Garcia, Director of Latin America and the Caribbean for the American Red Cross. "The generosity of USAID/OFDA helps us maintain the flow of aid to the Red Cross workers already on the ground."

The American Red Cross maintains a 15-person office in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. As soon as Hurricane Gustav struck the island, American Red Cross staff began working hand-in-hand with the Haitian Red Cross in the response to Gustav and then Ike.

"We're watching closely for any new storms forming in the Atlantic," cautions Matthew Marek, Head of Programs for the American Red Cross in Haiti. "If one develops and stalls over Haiti, and dumps 30 inches of rain like recently happened in Puerto Rico, the impact on the people here and our relief efforts to help them is simply unimaginable."

The American Red Cross has additional relief supplies- such as tarps, kitchen sets, blankets, buckets, and insecticide-treated mosquito nets-pre-positioned in Panama and ready to mobilize if a call for more support comes.

You can help the victims of countless crises 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 either contacting 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), or 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. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting http://www.redcross.org.

American Red Cross