Urgent: Haiti Struck by 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake

PLEASE DONATE TO HAITI EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

August 25, 2021

Reprinted from Fighting Words Urgent: Haiti Struck by 7.2 magnitude Earthquake – Fighting Words (fighting-words.net)

Haiti food aid being sold

Food aid for earthquake victims being sold selling in the market instead of being distributed freely to the hungry & homeless victims for whom it was intended – a sack of rice for $350HT. | Photo: Haiti Info Project, from Haitians in Jerimi.

By Haiti Action Committee

Dear Friends of Haiti:

A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake has struck Haiti leaving devastation in its wake. Hundreds of people have been killed, and the terrible counting has just begun.

Centered on Haiti’s southern peninsula, the earthquake severely damaged the cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie.  Hospitals in the area are overwhelmed. And, to make matters even worse, Tropical Storm Grace hit Haiti the following weekend.

We are reaching out to you today from the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund to ask for your immediate support for earthquake relief. We remember the 7.0 magnitude earthquake of 2010, where 300,000 perished and over 2 million Haitians ended up in tent cities. And we remember the ways in which funds collected by major aid organizations in the name of earthquake relief somehow never made it to those in need.

The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund has no paid staff or overhead. We will send each and every dollar directly to grassroots community organizations on the ground in Haiti. These groups are the ones positioned to provide the most effective support for families and communities impacted by the earthquake. When the 2010 earthquake hit the capital of Port-au-Prince, HERF funded mobile health clinics, women’s groups and community organizers who brought relief for thousands of families.

When Hurricane Matthew devastated the southern peninsula in 2016, we supported the work of grassroots activists who organized caravans with health care workers, medicine and food for people in the affected areas. To repeat, each and every dollar raised went directly to Haitian community organizations.

Popular organization from capital providing direct aid to folks in Okay, #Haiti. They did not want to be named fearing govt reprisal & pressure from established foreign aid groups. | Photo: Haiti Info Project, from Haitians in Jerimi.

Now, Haitians are mobilizing once again at the grassroots community level, forming work brigades to respond to this new disaster. As they confront this crisis, we ask for your solidarity and support.

Please send donations to www.haitiemergencyrelief.org

We Thank You!

Haiti Emergency Relief Fund Board of Directors 

Walter Riley, Attorney at Law, Co-Chair

Sister Maureen Duignan, O.S.F., Co-Chair

Seth Donnelly, Educator and Long-Time Haiti Solidarity Activist

Nia Imara, Astronomer and Artist

Pierre Labossiere, Co-Founder, Haiti Action Committee

Marilyn Langlois, Human Rights and Community Advocate

Robert Roth, Educator and Co-Founder, Haiti Action Committee