A Message from your AJLI Board of Directors and Staff regarding the Earthquake in Haiti

We begin the year 2010 with the news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. On Tuesday of this week, an earthquake measuring 7.0 struck outside the capital of Port-Au-Prince. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where many live on less than $2 per day, Haiti’s needs are dire. News reports tell of the destruction of buildings and infrastructure, of a possible death toll in the hundreds of thousands, and an estimated 3 Million people impacted.

At this sad and critical time, we are grateful for the first response organizations that are already at work to help in Haiti. There are a great many reputable charitable organizations that have mobilized to support aspects of the relief effort. We encourage Leagues to consider specific areas of interest, as well as any constraints in your League’s bylaws or state /local laws, as you consider relief support. Leagues may wish to consider the following:

The American Red Cross – According to their website, "The Red Cross is contributing an initial $1 million from the International Response Fund to support the relief operation, and has opened its warehouse in Panama to provide tarps, mosquito nets and cooking sets for approximately 5,000 families... In addition to Red Cross staff already in Haiti, six disaster management specialists are being deployed to the disaster zone to help coordinate relief efforts. At this time, the American Red Cross is only deploying volunteers specially trained to manage international emergency operations."

Donations of any size can be made via the ARC website or by phone. The Red Cross website also has a search register, where you can post names of friends or family in Haiti you are concerned about.

www.redcross.org
1-800-REDCROSS (English)
1-800-257-7575 (Spanish)

The public can also help by texting "Haiti" to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.

CARE – CARE is already on the ground in Haiti and has launched an international appeal for funds. As they write on their website, "CARE plans to start food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from our warehouses in Haiti. Our 133 staff who are already on the ground are coordinating with U.N. agencies and other aid organizations to gather more detailed information about the damage and will rapidly scale up our response based on those assessments. CARE’s staff in Haiti has extensive experience responding to disasters, and we are immediately dispatching humanitarian crisis experts including an emergency team from other CARE offices around the globe. Help is urgently needed for the millions of people likely affected by the disaster, especially for the most vulnerable – women and girls...As in all disasters, the immediate needs will likely include clean water, shelter, food and medical aid. From CARE’s experience in other emergencies, we know mothers with infants and pregnant women will need special supplies and health care."

Donations can be made via the CARE website: www.care.org

The UN Foundation in support of the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) - CERF is the UN’s humanitarian fund responding to emergencies like the earthquake in Haiti. The United Nations Foundation has committee $1 Million to CERF. As they write on their website, "The UN Foundation is also supporting the immediate deployment of two emergency response teams who will work to rebuild the communications infrastructure crippled by the earthquake. These teams, from the World Food Programme and the UN partner Télécoms Sans Frontières, are deploying to provide emergency communications systems that will enable relief workers to coordinate the delivery of life-saving aid and supplies."

The UN Foundation is accepting donations for CERF online: www.unfoundation.org/donate/cerf.html