American Red Cross releases $200,000 to help communities

affected by earthquake in Haiti

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 — The American Red Cross has pledged an initial $200,000 to assist communities affected by yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti, and is prepared to take further action as local responders assess the situation. The American Red Cross response will be coordinated with the Haitian Red Cross and other partners in Haiti and with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The American Red Cross:

• Has staff on the ground in Haiti and is working to obtain information on the situation.
• Has made available all of the relief supplies from its warehouse in Panama, which would provide for basic needs for approximately 5,000 families. These supplies include blankets, kitchen sets and water containers to meet the immediate needs of survivors.
• Is deploying a disaster management specialist to Haiti, and has several experienced disaster specialists on standby if needed.
• Will continue to monitor and communicate with the Haitian Red Cross and the International Federation for immediate action.
• Has an extensive partnership with the Haitian Red Cross, which is expected to lead the Red Cross response to the earthquake. The Haitian Red Cross was founded in 1932 and is one of the primary organizations in the country responding to disasters. Although earthquakes are less common, Haiti is frequently affected by hurricanes including those in 2008, and the Haitian Red Cross has developed experience in disaster response due to those disasters.    
• Isnot accepting volunteers to travel to Haiti, nor is the Greater Indianapolis Red Cross sending volunteers.
• Does not anticipate in-kind donations for this international response.
• Is accepting monetary donations to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti through the American Red Cross International Response Fund.  Donations may be sent to the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis, 441 E. 10^th St., Indianapolis, IN 46202-3388, made online at www.indyredcross.org/donate or by phone at 317-684-1441.

Communications are very difficult within Haiti at this time. For inquiries about relatives living and who have citizenship in Haiti, please be patient and call repeatedly until the lines clear or contact other family members who live nearby. 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.

In just the first week of the Haiti response effort, the American Red Cross already has spent or committed $34 million (approximately 25 percent of what has been pledged or received) as of Thursday, January 21.

• The infrastructure of Haiti is severely damaged—airports are clogged, roads are treacherous, and there is no large seaport available. This is causing bottlenecks and making it very difficult to get aid into the hands of survivors. Despite those problems, aid is starting to slowly make its way to those who need help.
• While the American Red Cross wants the aid to move faster, it's going to take government and relief agencies working together quickly to establish security and expand and repair, airports, roads and seaports to get the relief supplies moving.
• The relief effort will take place in two phases: The short term relief effort is underway now and will continue for many weeks. The Red Cross is starting to plan for a long-term recovery effort that will continue for months, if not years.
• In just the first week of the short-term relief operation the Red Cross has committed and spent funds in three basic areas: food and water, relief supplies and logistical and support services.
• Fifty percent of what has been committed or spent is being used to bring food and water to earthquake survivors. The American Red Cross is providing more than three million pre-packaged meals, more than one million water purification packets and thousands of jerry cans so people can collect and transport clean drinking water.
• Thirty percent of what has been committed or spent so far is purchasing and distributing relief supplies. This includes items such as blanket, tarps, soap, hygiene supplies, kitchen sets and first aid supplies.
• Twenty percent of what has been committed or spent is providing the logistical support and other items needed to keep the relief effort running. This includes the purchase of vehicles to deliver relief supplies, warehouse space, gasoline, transportation costs and the deployment of our relief specialists. This category also includes the costs associated with the training and deployment of nearly 70 Creole speaking volunteers to the USNS Comfort.
• The American Red Cross is one part of the international relief operation in Haiti. While many of these items are being distributed by American Red Cross workers on the ground, the American Red Cross is also providing supplies, food and logistical items to other Red Cross societies and groups, such as the World Food Program to assist in their efforts.
• This is only the beginning of the American Red Cross relief and recovery effort for Haiti. Over the next several days and weeks, as the international relief effort will grow so will the monetary commitment of the American Red Cross. Right now, it's important to get relief there as quickly as possible, but also be thoughtful and responsible in how we spend the funds the American people have entrusted to us.
• The American Red Cross wants to ensure that it manages funds wisely so it can ensure that long-term relief is available as well. The American Red Cross is already looking at how it can help meet longer term needs such as providing reliable shelter, water and sanitation systems.

People in Haiti are still in need of basic items like food, water and medical care. It is frustrating for humanitarian organizations, like the American Red Cross, that also wish aid would arrive faster.

• It is still difficult to get planes caring humanitarian aid into the Port-au-Prince airport. The roads are heavily congested, and travel by road from the Dominican Republic has increased to an 18-hour journey.
• The American Red Cross is working with the U.S. government to discuss how these issues can be alleviated, and we applaud the U.S. Armed Forces, which are on the ground and doing a great job.
• Despite all of the logjams and bottlenecks, supplies are slowly getting through.
• So far, more than 100 tons of Red Cross aid has arrived in Haiti. Planes and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are arriving in the region every day.
• On Wednesday the American Red Cross and its partners on the ground were able to provide 2,700 people with basic supplies like tarps, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and blankets.
• As the pipeline to get resources to the people in Haiti widens, the American Red Cross will provide large tents for an initial 14,500 people and is working around the clock to find and send more.
• The American Red Cross is also sending approximately three million pre-packaged meals to Haiti, and will partner with the World Food Program to distribute them to survivors over the weekend.
• On Thursday, nearly 70 American Red Cross Creole-speaking volunteers left Miami to join the USNS Comfort offshore in Haiti on Friday. Once aboard, they will serve as interpreters for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.

The American Red Cross is in Haiti as a part of the broader and coordinated Red Cross and Red Crescent network.

• All national societies have their roles; all have their expertise, and all are working together. That is a very powerful engine for relief.
• For example, Red Cross responders from seven countries are treating injuries and performing surgery at hospitals and medical centers throughout the capital city.
• Red Cross teams from Latin America and Asia, trained in urban search and rescue, are supporting local authorities.
• Others are focused on purifying the water supply available in the country and expect to deliver clean drinking water to 200,000 people (17 settlements) each day by truck.
• Local Haitian Red Cross volunteers are providing emotional support for traumatized survivors and providing first aid support.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) family links Web site (www.icrc.org/familylinks), designed to help reconnect separated families, has received 23,900 registrations since the earthquake. On Wednesday, the Red Cross helped more than 340 people in Haiti make international phone calls to their families to say they are safe and well as well as register an additional 178 on the site.

Financial contributions are the best way to help relief efforts: they allow the American Red Cross to support the greatest needs in the most efficient manner:

• People who want to help those affected by the Haitian earthquake, can make a designated donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Donations may be sent to the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis, 441 E. 10th St., Indianapolis, IN 46202-3388, made online at www.indyredcross.org/donate or by phone at 317-684-1441.
• The Red Cross is also receiving money through a third-party mobile fund-raising effort in which mobile donors can text "Haiti" to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the American Red Cross. A $10 donation made through mobile giving can provide a family with two water cans to store clean drinking water, a blanket appropriate to the climate or other supplies to give people the ability to cook for their families.