Telethon Friday Night on 10 TV Networks; Aid Still Getting into Haiti Despite Aftershocks and Logistical Challenges
Thursday, January 21, 2010
By: Andrea Fleisher
For Immediate Release
Aid Still Getting into Haiti Despite Aftershocks and Logistical Challenges Telethon Friday Night on 10 TV Networks
TUCSON, January 21, 2010 -- In conjunction with the ten-network
telethon that will air Friday night from 7-9pm, the American Red Cross
in Southern Arizona will run a telethon in tandem, starting at 4pm and
ending at 10:30pm. KVOA Channel 4 will be televising live from the local
telethon, and we invite the media to join us throughout the day or
evening with live remotes, interviews, footage.
The Red Cross Southern Arizona Chapter will be open all day and
night Friday, from 8:30 am – 10:30 pm to accept donations at 5301 E.
Broadway Blvd. Donations will be accepted online at www.redcrossarizona.org,
in person, by phone at 520-318-6470 or at 800-341-6943 (which rings to
the Tucson number – great for out of area listeners/readers/viewers).
Or you can text ‘Haiti’ to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
*SITUATION UPDATE*
Aid is still getting into Haiti despite a new aftershock this morning and enormous logistical challenges.
- The Red Cross has now been able to reach survivors outside the
capital city, providing first aid in camps and prioritizing the need
for food, water and other basic supplies.Red Cross responders from
seven countries are also treating injuries and performing surgery at
hospitals and medical centers throughout the capital city.
- More than 70 American Red Cross Creole-speaking volunteers have been trained and will soon join the USNS Comfort offshore in Haiti to translate for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.
- Red Cross teams are focused on purifying the water supply available
in the country and expect to deliver clean drinking water to 200,000 to
400,000 people each day by truck.
- The American Red Cross is providing approximately 3 million pre-packaged meals in partnership with the World Food Program in Haiti. More than 100 truckloads of meals will leave Miami by air in the next few days and are expected to arrive in Haiti this weekend.
- So far, 100 tons of Red Cross aid has arrived in Haiti. Planes and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are arriving in the region every day.
American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern visited relief operations in Haiti yesterday to help coordinate aid distribution.
- She witnessed the extensive damage and need as well as the growing
presence of Red Cross services. The Red Cross – through first aid
posts, hospitals, relief distribution sites, water trucking programs
and family linking stations – is making life better for people on the
ground every minute.
- She also began planning for a multi-year recovery operation with
other Red Cross leaders from around the world and heads of state from
the region.
This is an enormous relief operation now, but we also
know it will be a massive long-term recovery effort and the Red Cross
will be there throughout.
- This is already the largest single-country personnel deployment in
global Red Cross history. The number of emergency response teams in or
en route to Haiti equals those that responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – an emergency that spanned 14 countries.
- It is clear that what took minutes to destroy will take many years
and the collective support from governments and relief agencies across
the world to help mend. The American Red Cross is working in close
coordination with other responding organizations and will undoubtedly
collaborate on joint, long-term recovery projects.
- Terrible times like these bring out the best in people, and we are
grateful for the support being given to the American Red Cross. This
generosity will help thousands of survivors cope with and recover from
their losses.
- A $10 donation made through mobile giving can provide a family with
two water cans to store clean drinking water, a blanket appropriate to
the climate or other supplies to give people the ability to cook for
their families.
New photos showing Red Cross workers in Haiti are made available daily on the official American Red Cross Flickr account. All are available for media use.
All American Red Cross photos from Haiti are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanredcross/sets/72157623078316465/
A subset of select photos from the slideshow on redcross.org are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanredcross/sets/72157623244909946/
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