Santa Monica Red Cross helping with Haiti earthquake relief efforts.
January 14, 2010
For immediate Release
Santa Monica Red Cross helping with Haiti earthquake
relief efforts.
The American Red Cross of
Santa Monica is accepting donations for Haiti earthquake relief at the chapter
at 1450 Broadway in Santa Monica. The chapter will be open during weekday
business hours and from 9 a.m. until 4: p.m. on Saturday, April 16. The chapter
will also be open on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 18 from 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m..
All monies collected will go to the Red Cross effort for
Haitian earthquake relief. Checks and money orders should be made out to
American Red Cross - Haiti Relief. Cash and credit cards are also accepted.
Donations can also be made directly to the Santa Monica chapter website:
www.redcrossofsantamonica.org.
Donations can be also made through Twitter linked to the chapter's
website and by text messaging. "Haiti" to 90999." Donations are tax deductible.
The chapter does not accept clothing or food.
Information
about Haitian relief efforts and locating missing family members or friends can
also be found on the chapter web site: www.redcrossofsantamonica.org.
To date, there have been no call-ups for local volunteers beyond
highly trained and very experienced disaster volunteers who have worked other
major disasters.
It's always a good idea to be familiar with disaster relief
basics. The chapter is offering courses for unskilled persons interested in
becoming qualified for volunteering at disasters on both a local and national
level. Check the chapter's web site www.redcrossofsantamonica.org or call
310-394-3773 during business hours for information and a disaster class
schedule.
Local businesses support Haitian Relief efforts with
fund raisers.
The Pourtal Wine Bar is donating
25-percent of its wine tasting sales to the Santa Monica chapter of the American
Red Cross Haitian relief effort on Tuesday, January 19 from 7 p.m. until
closing. The Pourtal Wine Bar is located at 104 Santa Monica Boulevard in
downtown Santa Monica. Phone: 310-393-7693 or go on line at
pourtal.com.
California Pizza Kitchen at 210 Wilshire
Boulevard is donating 20-percent of all sales including take-out and catering to
the Santa Monica chapter's Haitian Relief effort from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.,
also on Tuesday, April 19.
American Red Cross leads earthquake
relief efforts
The American Red Cross has pledged an initial $200,000 to assist
communities impacted by today’s earthquake in Haiti, and is prepared to take
further action as local responders assess the situation.
There is widespread
damage in Port au Prince and continuing aftershocks. There are many injuries and
the death toll could be in the tens of thousands. Major search and rescue
operations are underway and medical support is flowing into the Caribbean
country.
Immediate needs are for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services
and emotional support. The American Red Cross has made available all of the
relief supplies from its warehouse in Panama which would provide for basic needs
for approximately 5,000 families and is deploying disaster managements
specialist to Haiti. The initial efforts will be substantially increased in the
days ahead. Estimates are a million people may be homeless.
The American Red Cross has an extensive partnership with the Haitian Red
Cross, which is expected to lead the Red Cross response to the earthquake. In
addition to sheltering and food supply, Red Cross staff and volunteers will be
assisting across the board in the relief effort. The Haiti Red Cross has
developed experience in disaster response due to the many hurricanes that
frequently impact the island country.
The
American Red Cross of Santa Monica, is a publicly supported, 501(C)(3) nonprofit
corporation that provides health and safety education, youth services, blood
services, CPR and first aid training, disaster awareness and disaster relief
efforts.
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