Haiti Earthquake: How You Can Help Victims
Latest on the relief efforts and organizations working to make a difference.
Jan. 18, 2010 — -- After a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti 10 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince last week, the United States and countries around the world turned their focus to helping earthquake victims in need.
Americans have donated $150 million to Haiti; $12 million of that from text donations collected by the Red Cross, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.And some of that aid is finally starting to reach Haitians on the ground. More than 600,000 humanitarian food rations have been brought into Haiti and 52 water distribution points have been established, according to the United States Agency for International Development.
The United Nations served food and water to 50,000 Haitians Saturday in Port-au-Prince.
If you want to get involved and donate to the relief effort, the following organizations are providing aid.
Click here for full coverage of the quake and its aftermath.
U.S. State Department
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the earthquake a "catastrophic" event and said the United States would "provide both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance."
In a blog post on the U.S. State Department Web site, Clinton's Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills called for those wanting to help to donate $10 by texting "HAITI" to "90999." The $10 donation will go automatically to the Red Cross "to help with relief efforts" and will be charged directly to your cell phone bill, the Web site said.
For more information, click here to visit the U.S. State Department Web site.
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross has raised more than $60 million dollars so far, and it plans to spend much more on the relief effort. The American Red Cross has partnered with the Haitian Red Cross, which is leading the response efforts.
The American Red Cross offers several ways to donate to various funds, including international relief to Haiti.
Click here to visit the American Red Cross Web site to find out more or donate online.
Those who wish to donate by phone can dial (800) Red Cross or (800) 257-7575.
Those who wish to donate by mail can do so by contacting their local Red Cross chapter or by mailing a donation to the following address:
American Red Cross
P.O. Box 37243
Washington D.C. 20013
Save the Children
Save the Children has been working in Haiti since 1985 and has offices in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince.
The agency was already sending out teams by motorbike in Port-au-Prince the morning after the quake hit, and flew in additional staff to help support the emergency response.
"We're providing medicine, food and medical care," the group's president and CEO Charles MacCormack said on "GMA" today. "We have child protection teams on the scene, because a lot of children were separated from their parents."
MacCormack had just returned from Haiti and said he was "really moved by the resilience in the Haitian people." His group recovered an 18-month-old baby from the rubble over the weekend.
For more information, or to donate, click HERE.
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Former president Bill Clinton is the United Nations special envoy to Haiti. At the request of President Obama, former presidents Clinton and George W. Bush have teamed up to help provide both immediate and long-term relief to earthquake victims.
Click here to donate to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services made an initial $5 million commitment for emergency supplies and sent water purification tablets, plastic sheeting, hygiene kits and mosquito nets to Haiti from the Dominican Republic, according to its Web site.
CLICK HERE for information on safely making charitable donations during a crisis.
For more resources on how to help, please visit Whitehouse.gov.
How to Help Haiti Quake Victims
Mercy Corps
While Mercy Corps does not have a staff in Haiti, the organization does have "extensive experience responding to earthquakes," according to Mercy Corps contributor Randy Martin.
The agency started planning a deployment to Haiti immediately and quickly set up the Haiti Earthquake Fund.Click here to find out more or donate online.
Those who wish to donate by phone can call (888) 256-1900.
Or donate by mail by sending a check to the follow address:
Mercy Corps
Dept W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208-2669
UNICEF
Shortly following the quake's eruption, the U.S. division of UNICEF issued a statement on its blog calling attention to some of the smallest victims of the emergency.
"Children are always the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and UNICEF is there for them," the statement said.
UNICEF invited people to give by mail by printing out a form on its Web site, which you can find by clicking here.
Those interested in donating can also call (800) For Kids or (800) 367-5437.
Click here for more information from the UNICEF Web site or donate online.
Food for the Hungry
Food for the Hungry has staff located near the earthquake and in neighboring Dominican Republic, according to the organization's Web site.
The site calls on visitors to donate to "help us respond now."
Click here to learn more and find out how to donate online.
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army mobilized resources and personnel to assist with the international relief effort in Haiti.
The group has been working in Haiti since 1950. At present, they operates schools, clinics, a hospital, feeding programs, children's homes and church-related activities in Port-au-Prince.They planned to send more than 44,000 pounds of pre-packaged emergency rations to the country, along with emergency disaster teams.
Click here to visit the Salvation Army Web site to learn more and donate.
How to Help Haiti Quake Victims
Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders had teams on the ground in Haiti when the earthquake struck who "witnessed significant damage to its medical facilities, injuries to patients and staff and an influx of wounded toward these hospitals in the capital," according to its Web site.
Partners in Health
Partners in Health is an aid organization that has a team in Haiti and aims to provide "a preferential option for the poor in health care," according to its Web site.
Partners in Health has sent their medical director and a doctor to Santo Domingo.
Click here to learn more about Partners in Health and get information about donating online.
World Food Programme
In a press statement, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it will "bring urgently needed food assistance to thousands of people affected by the devastating earthquake" in Haiti.
WFP already has stocks of food located in Haiti, and intends to first "distribute nutritious high energy biscuits, which require no cooking" to victims.
In addition, there are plans to airlift 95 tons of food from the WFP's emergency hub in El Salvador. "This will allow us to feed 30,000 people in urgent need for food for up to seven days," the statement said. WFP emergency staff will also be deployed to the country.
Click here to learn more about WFP in Haiti and get information about donating online.
Concern Worldwide
Concern Worldwide is an international relief and development agency which has been working in Haiti since 1994. The group is appealing for additional funds to support their search and rescue efforts and relief work on the ground in the capital Port-au-Prince, the town of Saut d'Eau and on the island of La Gonâve.
CLICK HERE to donate to the appeal.
How to Help Haiti Quake Victims
CARE
CARE has 133 people on the ground in Haiti and deployed additional staff to distribute food, hygiene kits and water, as well as to deliver emergency health services. The organization is coordinating with other U.N. agencies and aid organizations to assess damage and on-the-ground needs.
Click here for more information and to donate online, or call (800) 422-7385.
AmeriCares
AmeriCares has put together a $3 million relief package in the form of medications, trauma supplies, intravenous solutions, pain medication and other medical supplies.
Click here for more information about AmeriCares.
Samaritan's Purse
Samaritan's Purse is sending medication, plastic for emergency shelter, blankets, water filters and water purification solutions to Haiti, along with doctors and disaster specialists.
Click here to learn more and to help.
Operation Blessing International
Operation Blessing International, the seventh largest international charity, has disaster relief teams on the ground and more en route.
Contact information:
977 Centerville Turnpike
Virginia Beach, Va. 23463
(757) 226-3401
Click here to learn more and find out how to help.
Action Against Hunger
The mission of Action Against Hunger is to save lives by eliminating hunger through the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition, especially during and after emergency situations of conflict, war and natural disaster.Click here to learn more about what Action Against Hunger is doing in Haiti and find out how to help.
How to Help Haiti Quake Victims
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is addressing shelter solutions for low-income families affected by the earthquake. The group says on their Web site that their ability to respond effectively to this disaster will require support from donors, volunteers, corporate partners and other community organizations.
Click here to learn more and donate to Habitat for Humanity's effort.
Merlin (Medical Emergency Relief International)
Merlin's emergency response team is working with Haitians and other international agencies to meet the most urgent needs: water, sanitation, shelter, disease prevention and restoration of basic health services. The main elements of Merlin's Haiti emergency response include: providing essential medical equipment and supplies, providing emergency surgery, and distributing hygiene kits, shelter materials and other essential items.
Click here for more information and to donate to Merlin's effort.
Oxfam America
Oxfam America sent water and sanitation resources to Haiti in the days following the earthquake.
Click here to learn more and find out how to help.
International Medical Corps
The group sent an emergency response team to Haiti. Its doctors are trained in crisis medicine.
Click here for more information.
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee, a global leader in humanitarian assistance, deployed its Emergency Response Team to Haiti to deliver urgent assistance to earthquake survivors and help overwhelmed local aid groups struggling to meet the immense emergency needs. They are focusing on critical medical, water and sanitation assistance.
World Relief Corporation
The organization has 40 staff people on the ground in Haiti. It is sending an assessment team down that will include emergency kits, food and water.
Click here to visit its Web site.
Hope for Haiti
It has eight staffers in country and serves about 500,000 Haitians a year -- children and adults -- through education, nutrition and medicine. The staff traveled to Port-au-Prince with two doctors, support staff and 1,000 emergency relief buckets that contain items such as chlorine tablets and fortified food.
Click here to find out how to help Hope for Haiti.
How to Help Haiti Quake Victims
Food for the Poor
Food for the Poor has been working in Haiti since 1996, according to its Web site.
The organization said in a statement that it is accepting "cash donations, canned meats, fish, condensed, evaporated and powdered milk and water. The agency is immediately sending 400 containers of rice, beans, water, blankets, lumber and repairing zinc. We cannot accept clothing at this time."
Click here to donate or to learn more about Food for the Poor.
IMA World Health
IMA World Health is a faith-based nonprofit organization providing health care services and supplies to vulnerable people. Based in New Windsor, Md., the organization was founded with the goal of promoting self-reliance and sustainability for the communities in which they work. IMA established an office in Port Au Prince, Haiti, in 2000, employing five Haitians full time. In the aftermath of the earthquake, the organization is focusing on providing medicine and medical supplies. In 2009, Forbes magazine listed IMA among their top 20 most efficient charity organizations.
CLICK HERE to donate or to learn more about IMA World Health.
CURE International
Donations to the CURE Haiti Relief Fund will be used to provide emergency medical assistance to victims of the earthquake, to purchase and transport medical supplies and to continue medical care for patients in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Click here to learn more and donate, or text CURE to 85944 to donate $10 through your mobile phone. For more information, please call 717-730-6706.
Hopital Albert Schweitzer Haiti
Hopital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (HAS), serving in Haiti since 1956, is a specialty surgical hospital 40 miles from the earthquake epicenter. It has been supporting earthquake relief efforts through its hospital in Deschapelles, Haiti and its network of health dispensaries throughout the Artibonite Valley in central Haiti.
HAS has been receiving earthquake victims since the early hours of the disaster and has provided trauma and medical care with a primarily Haitian medical staff.
Click here to learn more, check daily updates and donate.
CLICK HERE FOR ADVICE ON DONATING SAFELY DURING AN EMERGENCY.
ABC News' Daniel Arnall contributed to this report.