ROCHESTER, N.Y., Wednesday, January 20, 2010 – The Greater Rochester Red Cross phone bank will end at 7 pm tonight but donations will still be needed and accepted long after for the International Response Fund. To-date the Greater Rochester Red Cross has received $368,716 from local support.
“Haiti is going to require extensive long term relief and development, and the Red Cross will be there to help,” said John Buttrill, CEO of the Greater Rochester Red Cross. “Relief materials of water, shelter, food, clothing, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and much more are being delivered, and more help is on the way.”
Red Cross phone banks will close at 7 pm tonight. Financial donations can still be made, to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti by calling 1-800-REDCROSS, texting “HAITI” to 90999 (to make a $10 donation) or by going to www.RochesterRedCross.org.
RED CROSS SERVICE INFORMATION
• Emotional Health documents are available at www.rochesteredcross.org in English and Creole for people that may need assistance dealing with stress during and after disaster.
• Supplies for temporary shelters in Haiti are being delivered with kits, containing wood, tarps, rope, tools, tents and blankets, which will be made available for an initial 20,000 families.
• A third Red Cross field hospital has been set up at Hospital Universitaire d’Haiti in downtown Port-au-Prince. Each field hospital can provide surgical and medical care for up to 250,000.
• 100 Creole-speaking Red Cross volunteers are working as translators on the USNS Comfort, where Haitians will be brought aboard for medical care.
• 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 or (202) 647-5225.
• Separated families in Haiti and outside the country can register the names of relatives missing since the earthquake at http://www.icrc.org/familylinks; a special website of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
HOW TO HELP
• The American Red Cross is only accepting monetary donations.
• Call 585-241-4417 through 7 pm to make a credit card donation by phone
• Send a check payable to:
American Red Cross International Response Fund
P.O. Box 14390
Rochester, NY 14614-0390
• Text “HAITI” to 90999 and a $10 donation will be made to the American Red Cross International Response Fund for Haiti relief.
PHOTOS
• For the latest newsworthy photos, the media may access the American Red Cross photo library by going to: http://media.redcross.org. The username is current and the password is redcross.
• Local Red Cross photos can be found on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rochesterredcross
For more information please contact Nadine Krimow, Communications Manager at the Greater Rochester Red Cross at nadinek@grcarc.org or by calling 585-370-1834.
About the American Red Cross
You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. Donations to the International Response Fund can be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at www.redcross.org.
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