American Red Cross Releases $10 Million
to Help Haiti
Priority needs are food, water, shelter and medical help
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Editorial note: Call (202) 303-5551 to speak with an American Red Cross spokesperson.
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WASHINGTON -- (U.S. ASIAN WIRE) -- January 14, 2010 - With estimates that as many as three million
people may be affected by the catastrophic earthquake which hit Haiti Tuesday, the American Red Cross is
releasing an additional $9 million for earthquake relief, bringing its total commitment so far to $10 million to
support relief efforts in Haiti.
Priority needs in Haiti are food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support.
Thousands of local Red Cross volunteers are aiding their fellow Haitians. American Red Cross Disaster
management specialists are scheduled to arrive today from the United States, Peru and Mexico to join local
Red Cross staff already on the ground in the disaster zone. As soon as airports begin accepting relief
shipments, tarps, hygiene items and cooking sets for approximately 5,000 families will come from the Red
Cross warehouse in Panama.
The American Red Cross is also helping the injured who may need blood. More than 100 units of blood and
blood products were shipped to the U.S. Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, and then on to
Guantanamo Bay to help Haitian evacuees and patients.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a plane full of mostly medical items on the way to
Haiti from Geneva. ICRC staff, including engineers, a surgeon and family linking specialists are expected to
arrive in Port-au-Prince this morning. Other Red Cross partners have deployed a mobile hospital, medical
teams, and 40 staff to help with sheltering, providing water, sanitation, and telecommunications.
ICRC is helping reconnect separated families in Haiti through a special web site which enables people in
Haiti and outside the country to search for and register the names of relatives missing since the earthquake.
In the first twenty-four hours, more than 6,000 people have been registered.
Countless requests have come from people wanting to help. The best way to do that is to make a donation
to the American Red Cross International Response Fund at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
Donors can designate their gifts to Haiti relief. Donations to the International Response Fund allows the
American Red Cross to respond to global emergencies and disasters.
In addition, several hundred thousand people have chosen to make a mobile donation. Donors can text
"Haiti" to 90999 on their cell phone to send a $10 donation to support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. The
mobile giving effort raised more than $3 million by Thursday morning, and all money raised goes to support
Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
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.
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