Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help
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It's been six months since a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti and decimated buildings and infrastructure across the country. Over $2 billion dollars have been raised since January for Haiti relief, but the reconstruction will take years and organizations in Haiti continue to need funding. If you haven't contributed in a few weeks or months, please consider making another donation through one of the groups below.
If there are organizations missing from this list, feel free to notify us at impact@huffingtonpost.com.
You can also go to The Goods: Help Send Relief To Haiti, an online store by Causecast and HuffPost Impact, where you can purchase products for organizations that will be directly used on the ground in Haiti. Your donations have already given over $100,000 through this initiative.
Our list below is still the most comprehensive resource of organizations helping in Haiti.
••The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund is being run by former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and was created at the behest of President Obama. They oversee the CBHF through their respective nonprofit organizations, the William J. Clinton Foundation and Communities Foundation of Texas. One hundred percent of the donations made to the Clinton Foundation go directly to recovery efforts. Ninety-nine percent of the donations made to the Communities Foundation of Texas go directly to relief efforts. You can donate through the Clinton Foundation or text HAITI to 20222 to donate $10.
•Mercy Corps has updated their website with their accomplishments over the last six months. Donate online, call 1-888-256-1900 or send checks to Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund; Dept NR; PO Box 2669; Portland, OR 97208.
•Music For Relief is offering a compilation of unreleased music, available for free download on MusicForRelief.org. The site encourages donations, which will be divided equally among the United Nations Foundation, Habitat For Humanity, and Dave Matthews Band's BAMA Works Haitian relief program.
•Artists For Peace and Justice is a relatively new organization with an advisory board of prominent celebrity activists, including Maria Bello, Madeleine Stowe, Charlize Theron, Oliver Stone and Josh Brolin. Founded by filmmaker Paul Haggis, the group originally sought to help build functional schools in impoverished regions in Haiti. Since the earthquake, they've directed all of their funds to recovery efforts, with a focus on helping to rebuild schools, hospitals and orphanages.
•UNFPA is focusing on distributing safe delivery kits and sending essential medical and reproductive health supplies to ensure that women have safe deliveries including emergency caesarean operations. The organization is also working to ensure the personal hygiene and dignity of women and girls by providing supplies like soap, sanitary napkins, toilet paper, and disposable diapers and providing support to hospitals along the boarder area. Donate online.
•K.I.D.S., or Kids In Distressed Situations, is delivering clothes, diapers, and water and is asking for cash donations as well as product gifts. To inquire about necessary items you can give, contact K.I.D.S. president Janice Weinman at 212-279-5493 x207.
•Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean is raising funds through his nonprofit organization Yele Haiti. Text YELE to 501501 to give $5 to the fund. Yele Haiti came under scrutiny in January for potential improper allocation of funds. Jean responded to these accusations in a press conference.
•UNICEF has worked to prevent increases in child malnutrition (a success so far) and continually provide resources in the form of food and school supplies to Haiti's children. UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF.
•Operation USA is appealing for donations of funds from the public and corporate donations in bulk of health care materials, water purification supplies and food supplements which it will ship to the region from its base in the Port of Los Angeles. Donate online at www.opusa.org, by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232.
•Save The Children has launched an emergency relief effort for Haiti. Donate to their fund to provide medical attention and clean water to children and families. Text "SAVE" to 20222 to donate $10 to Save the Children for Haiti earthquake victims.
•International Medical Corps is assembling a team of first responders and resources to provide lifesaving medical care and other emergency services to survivors of the earthquake. The IMC previously helped recovery efforts after September 2009's earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, and the massive 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Donate to the International Medical Corps through their 24-hour hotline at 800-481-4462
•Ben Stiller's Stillerstrong campaign will be temporarily diverting all donations to support the Haiti relief effort.
•Partners In Health reports its Port-au-Prince clinical director , Louise Ivers, has appealed for assistance: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us." Donate to their Haiti earthquake fund.
•Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is now asking donors to give to their general unrestricted fund, to ensure that any surplus donations they receive can be put to good use anywhere in the world. Below is a statement from the organization:
We are incredibly grateful for the generous support from our donors for the emergency in Haiti.
MSF has been working in Haiti for 19 years, most recently operating three emergency hospitals in Port-au-Prince, and is mobilizing a large emergency response to this disaster. Our immediate response in the first hours following the disaster in Haiti was only possible because of private unrestricted donations from around the world received before the earthquake struck. We are currently reinforcing our teams on the ground in order to respond to the immediate medical needs and to assess the humanitarian needs that MSF will be addressing in the months ahead.
We are now asking our donors to give to our Emergency Relief Fund. These types of funds ensure that our medical teams can react to the Haiti emergency and humanitarian crises all over the world, particularly neglected crises that remain outside the media spotlight. Your gift via this website will be earmarked for our Emergency Relief Fund.
•Direct Relief is committing up to $1 million in aid for the response and is coordinating with its other in-country partners and colleague organizations. Their partners in Haiti include Partners in Health, St. Damien Children's Hospital, and the Visitation Hospital, which are particularly active in emergency response. Donate to Direct Relief online.
•Oxfam is rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation to provide clean water, shelter, sanitation and help people recover. Donate to Oxfam America online.
•The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is gathering all available resources to deliver food to the newly homeless and impoverished in Haiti. Donate now to help bring food to those affected as quickly and efficiently as possible. One simple way to help is to text FRIENDS to 90999 to give $5 to WFP's relief efforts.
Drew Barrymore recently recorded an appeal to Americans to donate to the WFP:
•The Baptist Haiti Mission is operating an 82-bed hospital that is "overflowing with injured." Donate online to BHM and 100% of your donation will go to the relief effort.
•International Medical Corps is assembling a team of first responders and resources to provide lifesaving medical care and other emergency services to survivors of the earthquake. Donate online.
•Following the earthquake, Catholic Relief Services made an immediate commitment of $5 million for emergency supplies. They are distributing food and relief supplies, and importing plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and water purification tablets from the Domincan Republic. Donate to Catholic Relief Services to assist in these efforts.
•Give to the American Jewish World Service's Earthquake Relief Fund.
•CARE is deploying emergency team members to Port-au-Prince to assist in recovery efforts. They're focusing their efforts on the health of children, distributing water sanitation tablets, food, hygiene kits and emergency healthcare. Donate to CARE.
•Make your donation count double through Razoo.com. The online fundraising site has offered to match all donations made to organizations, up to a pre-set, un-posted amount.
•Orphans International America reports that they have been able to make contact with their program director in the town of Jacmel, a city about 20 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince that houses OI's hospitals and schools. Orphans International America is attempting to gather food, clean water and emergency medical supplies to Jacmel. You can contribute to them through PayPal.
•The International Rescue Committee is deploying an emergency response team to Haiti to deliver urgent assistance to earthquake survivors and to help overwhelmed local aid groups struggling to meet the immense emergency needs. They will focus on critical medical, water and sanitation assistance. Donate to the IRC Haiti Crisis Fund.
•NetHope is coordinating its response with its NGO member agencies and with the UN's Emergency Telecom Cluster to establish connectivity in Haiti. Seventeen of NetHope's members are already providing aid and deploying resources on the ground. Donate online.
•The Haitian Health Foundation is still assessing the situation of their full-time facilities and staff in Haiti. They regularly provide health care, development and relief to rural mountain villages in Haiti. Donate to the Haitian Health Foundation.
•World Vision has more 370 staff in the country. Staff members from less-affected regions of Haiti are mobilizing, and World Vision's global experts are expected to arrive in the disaster zone as soon as possible. Donate to World Vision.
•The Jewish Federations of North America is partnering with the American Jewish Joint Distribution committee and have created a dedicated Haiti Relief page for online donations.
•United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is the UN's humanitarian fund responding to emergencies like the earthquake in Haiti. Donate online.
•Friends of the Orphans will use donations to meet the needs of first responders such as first aid supplies, shipping of necessary materials to assist in efforts, and treating the injured. Those interested in helping the relief effort can visit www.friendsoftheorphans.org, or call 888-201-8880 to make a donation.
•World Concern's staff is almost entirely composed of Haitian nationals and will be tapping into private as well as U.S. government supplies to help in the relief effort it hopes will soon be supplemented by cargo ships. Donate to World Concern.
•Merlin USA is sending an emergency response team out to the region and have subsequently launched an emergency appeal to bring urgent medical aid and assistance to those affected. Donate to Merlin USA.
•The Salvation Army has staff on the ground and already the organization has set aside $50,000 in direct aid to the country but the organization is in need of additional donations. Donations can be made online or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
•The American Refugee Committee is sending a response team to provide water, sanitation, and shelter for earthquake survivors. Donate online or read about their volunteer opportunities.
•AmeriCares has pledged $5 million in aid in the wake of the catastrophe and is sending an emergency shipment with $3 million worth of medicines and supplies for earthquake survivors. Donate online or call 1-800-486-HELP.
•Handicap International will provide care to those injured by the earthquake and its aftershocks, including support to hospitals for essential post-surgery and rehabilitation care, as well as emergency shelter, emergency basic needs and food distribution for at least 5,000 people initially. Donate online.
•Episcopal Relief & Development has committed to providing Haiti both long and short-term support in the wake of the disaster. Donate to the Haiti Fund or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to Episcopal Relief & Development, PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.
•United Way is currently assessing Haiti's longtime recovery needs. Donate online, write a check, call 866-404-5826 or make a $5 donation by texting HAITI to 864833 (UNITED).
•UNFPA is focusing on distributing safe delivery kits and sending essential medical and reproductive health supplies to ensure that women have safe deliveries including emergency caesarean operations. The organization is helping to safeguard the personal hygiene and dignity of women and girls by providing supplies like soap, sanitary napkins, toilet paper, and disposable diapers and providing support to hospitals along the boarder area, where many injured are going to seek medical help. Donate online.
HuffPost Impact is following relief organizations in Haiti and will be updating with their latest messages from the ground.
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HuffPost Victoria Fine First Posted: 05/28/10 06:04 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 04:10 PM ET