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Chile and Haiti Response: Situation Room
Chile Earthquake - April 14, 2010
The American Red Cross is providing relief supplies and has made a $1 million commitment for global Red Cross relief operations in Chile following the February 27 earthquake; and is prepared to offer more assistance, if needed.
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The American Red Cross has contributed $1 million for Red Cross relief efforts in Chile following an appeal from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. This will support the Chilean Red Cross in providing shelter, relief supplies, basic health care, and water and sanitation for 90,000 people for one year.
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The Chilean Red Cross has 1,700 volunteers performing damage and needs assessments and distributing food, hygiene articles, blankets, and other relief items to survivors.
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A five-member regional Red Cross team of disaster specialists, including one from the American Red Cross, is in Chile to provide technical support for Chilean Red Cross response activities and to perform damage assessments, emergency relief and communications support.
The American Red Cross is accepting financial donations for response efforts in Chile. This includes donations through www.redcross.org, 1-800-REDCROSS, and by texting "CHILE" to 90999. People can also call 1-800-257-7575 to make a donation in Spanish.
While assisting the response in Chile, the American Red Cross continues to support the relief operation in Haiti following the earthquake there in January.
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As the largest global humanitarian network, the Red Cross has both the experience and the capacity to respond simultaneously to multiple disasters. Last fall the Red Cross responded to a series of major disasters that hit the Asia and Pacific region within a week: back-to-back typhoons in Southeast Asia, an earthquake in Indonesia and a tsunami in America Samoa and Samoa.
Haiti Earthquake - April 22, 2010
More than 100 days after the earthquake, the American Red Cross has spent a record $111 million dollars to quickly meet the needs of the Haitian people. The Red Cross has helped earthquake survivors with extensive food, water, shelter, and health programs.
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The fact that that these efforts have reached nearly 2 million people is evidence that money, so generously donated by the American people, is getting through and a great deal of progress is being made.
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Shelter remains a top priority. As with any other humanitarian organization working in Haiti, the Red Cross cannot start building transitional shelters until there are cleared plots of land available for to use. Two plots in Cite Soleil were recently released for use by the government, and they are now being prepared for occupation. The Red Cross is also shipping building supplies for thousands of shelters, and has begun training Haitian Red Cross staff and volunteers to construct these shelters.
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In the meantime, the Red Cross is working to shelter people during the rainy season. The number of people displaced by the earthquake in Port-au-Prince is equivalent to the population of Hawaii. So far, working in a coordinated effort with 50 organizations, the Red Cross has provided emergency shelter items to a target group of people the size of Honolulu - 400,000 people.
While we are making an impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Red Cross experts are preparing communities for the peak of rainy season and the hurricane season that follows. We are also exploring new programs to meet remaining needs of the Haitian people.
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The Red Cross has begun working in camps in order to put in place very basic safety measures such as digging ditches for better drainage.
Relief workers are planning a larger disaster preparedness program to reach hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people around the country. This includes pre-positioned supplies in secure warehouses.
The American Red Cross is looking at ways to get money more directly into the hands of the Haitian people so they can buy goods and services for their families. We are working with banks in Haiti and looking at mobile technology as a way to do this. It will take some time to register families and make sure we have all the financial controls in place to do this properly.
The American Red Cross will be in Haiti until the last donated dollar is spent, and we have a multi-year plan to support long-term recovery in Haiti. We'll also continue work in Haiti that has been ongoing for many years, including programs in health, disease prevention, disaster preparedness and disaster response.
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At this point, the Red Cross spending plan for Haiti estimates that about 40 percent (39%) of the planned spending for the recovery period will be for shelter. We also plan to spend about 20 percent each on emergency relief (18%) and water and sanitation projects (17%) and more than 15 percent (16%) on grants, loans and other financial assistance. Other priorities are disaster preparedness and health programs. The allocations in the American Red Cross plan likely will shift somewhat in the years ahead in order to be responsive to the fluid situation in Haiti and the evolving needs of the Haitian people.
The American Red Cross is making an impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Haitians, but our work may not be as visible in Haiti. That's because our approach in international disasters is different from what we do in responding to disasters in the U.S.
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We could have sent large numbers of American Red Cross volunteers to Haiti , but they don’t speak the language or know the country, and it would have been costly to transport, shelter and feed them. Instead, in a coordinated effort, we have deployed a total of 165 people, most of them highly-trained disaster specialists who work with the Haitian Red Cross to deliver relief supplies through the network of 10,000 Haitian volunteers.
At Your Local Chapter, Washtenaw County American Red Cross
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We have been overwhelemed by the generosity of our area, the phone calls, and in person visits we have received to give time and money. We estimate that as of today we are over $146,680 worth of donations that have come through the chapter door -- this does not include online donations or cell phone donations. We have been active with:
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Monetary donations to the International Relief Fund
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Interest in volunteering for our local and national disasters, or other chapter programs.
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Interest in supporting any new programs or services which we will become involved with through the American Red Cross or other community partners to support the relief efforts in Haiti.
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Local media updates.
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Our local chapter is one link in one of the largest humanitarian networks in the world. As such, it is part of an organization that is uniquely positioned to help communities around the world prepare for emergencies and meet the resulting humanitarian needs.
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Collectively our more than 97 million volunteers and employees give the Red Cross the expertise, scale and scope to manage catastrophic disasters form the moment they strike.
How to Help
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People who want to help those affected by the Haitian earthquake can make a donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund at Redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
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The Red Cross is also receiving money through a third party mobile fundraising effort sponsored by Mobile Accord. Mobile donors can text "Haiti" to 90999 to send a ten dollar donation to the Red Cross. The funds will go to support the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. A $10 donation made through mobile giving would provide a first aid kit equipped with enough ointment and bandages for a Red Cross responder to treat 15-20 injured earthquake survivors. A $10 donation also can provide a family with two water cans to store clean drinking water, basic first aid supplies, or a blanket.
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At this time, we are only deploying Red Cross volunteers specially trained to manage international emergency operations. Please consider supporting your community's local needs by volunteering with your local Red Cross.
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At this time, what we need the most are financial contributions, whether by check, online or by phone.
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The Red Cross does not accept or solicit small, individual donations or collections of items for emergency relief purposes. Small items such as collections of food, used clothing, and shoes often must be cleaned, sorted, and repackaged which impedes the valuable resources of money, time, and personnel that are needed for other aspects of our relief operation. The Red Cross, in partnership with other agencies, suggests that the best use for those types of donations is to support needy agencies within donors' local communities.
Want to Get more detailed information about situation in Haiti? (click link below)
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