ROCHESTER, N.Y., Monday, February 8, 2010 – Whether it’s a hot coco sale, money from a piggybank, schools, churches and community groups circulating canisters or a five-band concert set, people of all ages and professions from Rochester have been extraordinarily generous in their support of American Red Cross relief operations in Haiti and more events continue to be planned.
“To-date, more than $1,605,447 has been raised from the Rochester community for relief efforts in Haiti, which includes donations made at Wegmans stores,” said John Buttrill, CEO of the Greater Rochester Red Cross. “Every day, still our Chapter receives at least three inquiries of individuals, businesses and/or community groups planning fundraisers to help Haiti and more walking in with checks and cash to support the International Relief Fund.”
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 recover and rebuild in the years ahead. In Haiti, relief is getting through to the survivors but the road to recovery will take years. Here are just a few examples of how local donations are helping people devastated by the recent earthquake disaster:
$10 Provides a first aid kit equipped with enough ointment and bandages for a Red Cross responder to treat 15-20 injured people.
$30 Provides one month’s worth of essential hygiene materials for five people, including items like toothbrushes, shampoo, toilet paper and towels.
$100 Will furnish a family of five with a cooking set, hygiene pack, blankets and water containers.
$500 Will provide a tent large enough for a family of five to use as a temporary shelter.
RED CROSS SERVICE INFORMATION
• Four Red Cross warehouses (two in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and two in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) are open and operating at full capacity.
• The Red Cross is producing more than 1 million liters of water per day, enough for 300,000 people. Water distribution points are in 100 settlements with sanitation facilities in 8 settlements.
• Red Cross distributions of food and relief items (blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, buckets, water containers, laundry soap/detergent, and mosquito nets) have reached nearly 32,000 families (or 170,000 people).
• On average, 1,600 patients are being treated daily at the combined six Red Cross health facilities.
• A major vaccination program started this weekend to vaccinate 250,000 children, ages 6 weeks to 7 years, against measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. Local and international Red Cross teams along with UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are going throughout the city to vaccinate children. Along with vaccinations, the Red Cross will be teaching basic health skills, such as proper hand washing, waste disposal and safe food and water storage. Red Cross emotional support teams will also be on hand to help children with their emotional trauma caused by the earthquake.
• The American Red Cross has more than 100 relief specialists and volunteers helping with the relief efforts in Haiti (including Creole interpreters on the USNS Comfort hospital ship). In total, more than 600 Red Cross and Red Crescent workers from at least 30 countries around the world are in Haiti working with more than 2,500 Haitian Red Cross volunteers in areas such as health, logistics, and relief supply distribution.
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
If you would like to help, mobile donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to make a $10 contribution. You can also help by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund by mailing a check to American Red Cross International Response Fund, P.O. Box 14390 Rochester, NY 14614-0390 or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), online at www.redcross.org.
Additional fundraising events planned to benefit Haiti relief efforts can be found on the Greater Rochester Red Cross website www.rochesterredcross.org and our social media pages.
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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