Relief Efforts for Haiti

Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 8:29 PM
The Anchoress
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/theanchoress/2010/01/12/relief-efforts-for-haiti/

The Pope has activated worldwide Catholic relief for Haiti.

I will be donating to Food For the Poor, an terrific organization serving those in desperate need in the Caribbean and Latin America. I have written before about the excellent work they do, and the people they serve. And they really do serve. In 2008, over 97% of their donations went directly their programs in aid to the poor.

A donation to their General Fund “goes to where the greatest need is at the moment.” That would be Haiti, I’m sure. Food for the poor is helping to get information out:

“Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing … it’s total chaos,” Reuters reporter Joseph Guyler Delva said. “I saw people under the rubble, and people killed,” he added.

A local employee for the U.S. charity Food for the Poor reported seeing a five-storey building collapse in Port-au-Prince, a spokeswoman for the group, Kathy Skipper, told Reuters.

Another Food for the Poor employee said there were more houses destroyed than standing in Delmas Road, a major thoroughfare in the city.

Panic-stricken residents filled the streets desperately trying to dig people from rubble or seeking missing relatives as dark fell shortly after the quake. “People were screaming ‘Jesus, Jesus’ and running in all directions,” Delva said.

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Other ways to help:

Catholic Relief Services
United Methodist Committee on Relief
The Red Cross
Salvation Army
Providence in Haiti
American Jewish World Service
Lutheran World Relief
Cross InternationalWorld Vision
International Orthodox Christian Charities
Beyond Borders
Mercy Corps
Partners in Development