Red Cross Aid Flowing Into Haiti
 
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| American Red Cross |
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January 25, 2010
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So far, more than 38 flights carrying Red Cross aid have arrived in Haiti. Additional planes, ships and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are expected every day.
Shelter remains an urgent need on the ground. Together with relief partners like the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Red Cross is helping meet temporary shelter needs, whether in camps or in spontaneous settlements, and is working to provide support for host families sheltering the displaced. This immediate relief includes providing family-sized tents and kits with tarps, ropes and tools to construct shelter. At the same time, we are developing a strategy to meet long-term housing reconstruction needs.
More than 430 Red Cross and Red Crescent workers from around the world are in Haiti supporting thousands of local volunteers. Of that, more than 100 are representing the American Red Cross (Includes the Creole interpreters on the USNS Comfort).
Each Red Cross team has its own roles and expertise, and we’re all working together. That is a very powerful engine for relief. For example, Red Cross responders from eight countries are treating approximately 500 people each day at medical facilities throughout the capital city. An additional 100-bed Red Cross field hospital arrived this weekend and has been set up in the Carrefour soccer stadium.
Others are focused on purifying the water supply available in country and are delivering clean drinking water to 400,000 people each day. So far, more than 2 million litres of water has been distributed.
Local Haitian Red Cross volunteers are providing first aid support as well as emotional support for traumatized survivors. A special area has been established at each medical center where volunteers are comforting children, many of who are too young to even understand what happened.
The American Red Cross and its partners are distributing other relief items – such as hygiene kits, blankets and water containers – for up to 1,000 families (6,000 people) each day.
Approximately 3 million pre-packaged meals from the American Red Cross have left Miami via ship and will arrive later this week in Haiti, where we will partner with the UN’s World Food Programme to distribute them.
On Friday, nearly 70 American Red Cross Creole-speaking volunteers joined the USNS Comfort offshore in Haiti. While aboard, they are serving as interpreters for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.
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 thrive for years to come.
Donations can still be made online at www.redcross.org, by texting the message “Haiti” to 90999 or by phone to 1-800-REDCROSS. Donors can also call the local Red Cross here in Rhode Island and make a donation by phone at 401-831-7700, or send a check to our office at 105 Gano Street, Providence RI 02906. Please indicate “Haiti” on the check.
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