January 19 2010 Update to Red Cross Haiti Relief Efforts

The last week has been a very difficult one for the people of Haiti, and the American Red Cross has been working very hard to raise and deliver the resources necessary to assist the recovery.

In all, the American people and the American Red Cross have contributed more than $103 million to the effort.  The Tri-County Red Cross has raised more than $300,000 of that response thanks to the generosity of local businesses, churches, schools and families. 

Among those are the Wakefern Food Corporation (ShopRite stores), which has donated $250,000 to the effort.  Also many schools -- including Bayberry Elementary School, Roselle High School, Elizabeth High School, Rahway High School, Plainfield's public schools, and far more than I can mention - have been very generous in raising funds.  Add on to that the many individuals who donated online at http://www.tricountyredcross.org and this has been an amazing response from our local communities.

If your business or organization would like to help raise funds for the American Red Cross, you can call Nathan Rudy or Corinna Krauskopf at (908) 756-6414, or e-mail us at info@tricountyredcross.org.    We have a number of ways to work with your customer base to raise funds.

The chapter has also been supporting the repatriation of American citizens flown back to McGuire Air Force Base.  The Burlington County Red Cross has taken the lead and done an amazing job, and other state chapters volunteers and staff and donors have been assisting.

The funds raised above have supported the following American Red Cross actions in Haiti:

• A Red Cross field hospital has been set up at Hopital Universitaire d'Haiti in downtown Port-au-Prince, and surgeries began last night on people injured in the earthquake.  Three Red Cross Basic Healthcare Emergency Response Units (ERU) will be on the ground to provide care and triage in Port-au-Prince, and an additional ERU is being deployed.  Combined the Red Cross will be able to care for a half million people.
• Three Water and Sanitation ERUs are now on the ground setting up equipment and initial water distributions have begun.  Once at full capacity, these ERUs will provide clean water for up to 50,000 people each day.
• The American Red Cross released all of its sheltering and feeding supplies from its Panama storage supply to support 10,000 families.
• The American Red Cross provided blood and blood products to the U.S. Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.  Requested by the U.S. Navy, the blood was shipped to their facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in support of medical evacuees from Haiti. In addition, the American Red Cross has sent a shipment of blood products to the UN Mission in Haiti.

We will continue to update our website at http://www.tricountyredcross.org with more information as it becomes available.  You may also call us at (908) 756-6414 if you have questions.