Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief
Here is the current summary of our response to the earthquake in Haiti:
Convoy of Hope has experienced relief workers on the ground in Haiti. All personnel survived the quake and our facilities are operational. We have a warehouse just outside of Port-Au-Prince with food, water and purification units. The response is already underway.
Our ongoing activities in Haiti put us in a very strong position to respond. (Convoy of Hope feeds 7,000 kids every day in Haiti through 27 different schools and orphanages) But our in-country resources will only last so long. Containers filled with food, water and medicine are also being staged and shipped.
During disasters, containers can feed up to 12,000 people. Typically food and supplies are donated by corporate partners. But help is needed in underwriting the cost of delivering the containers. The cost for shipping a container into Haiti is about $10,000.
Eventually we hope to send teams of volunteers into Haiti to assist with cleanup, water filtration, etc., but that will be a part of the recovery phase. Due to major security concerns, we will not be encouraging the deployment of teams until we can ensure the safety of our volunteers.
In addition, we discourage people from buying supplies at their local store and shipping them to Convoy of Hope. The greatest need we have right now is cash offerings.
Individuals can donate online here: http://convoyofhope.org/go/donate
Organizations can send checks to:
Convoy of Hope
Attn: Disaster Relief
330 S. Patterson Ave
Springfield, MO 65802
In addition to financial support, we are asking churches and organizations to please email us at goteams@convoyofhope.org with a list of resources that they can make available to assist with response efforts (volunteer teams, facilities, equipment, etc). If your organization has any connections with food suppliers, please include that information as well.
All emails received at the "goteams" address will be queued and responded to at the appropriate response stage. If you would, please copy me on any emails sent to "goteams".
We will continue to update our website with new developments and information. Members of our communications team will be arriving in Haiti tomorrow and should have still images and video footage available by Friday.
This could be a great moment for your local church and your members create a buzz of compassion throughout your community. During Convoy of Hope’s Hurricane Katrina disaster response, many churches members across the country went to their businesses, schools, civic organizations and rallied their friendships to respond to the disaster through Convoy of Hope. Additionally, pastors hit the airwaves and newspapers with interviews and public service announcements about their response through Convoy of Hope. In essence pastors deployed their congregations to become a movement of compassion and it sent a message of compassion throughout the community, “our church cares about the needs of people. Because of this simple effort and announcement, Convoy of Hope has been able to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina the past forty-six months.
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I’m happy to help any way that I can.
As always, thanks for trusting us and partnering with us.
--
Rick Ryan
CONVOY OF HOPE
