Catholic Relief Services has worked in Haiti for over 50 years. Even before the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, Haiti was a country in need. The nation is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere with 80 percent of the population falling below the poverty line. Estimates are 150,000 people were killed and 800,000 were left homeless.

Latest News from CRS/Caritas Haiti
“It may look to many in the rest of the world that those in need are not receiving any aid, but actually thousands here in Port-au-Prince are getting help,” said Karel Zelenka, the CRS country representative in Haiti. To date, CRS has:
• Provided food to 74,458 people, and non-food items to 15,692 people, distributing an average of 62 metric tons of food per day.
• Sent in medical teams that are treating 300 people per day.
• Supported 2,500 people at Missionaries of Charity centers.
• For up-to-date information visit www.crs.org or crs-blog.org.

The U.S. Catholic Community Responds
Examples of the enormous compassion and generosity of the U.S. Catholic community:
• CRS has received $26 million in cash donations and commitments.
• Parishes are reporting extremely generous second collections for Haiti, such as Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington, VA, which raised 7 times the normal second collection. Oakland Cathedral in California held a benefit choral concert.
• Hundreds of Catholic parishes with twinning relationships in Haiti are using social networks to help. St. Brendan’s in Cumming, GA organized a “virtual prayer circle” for Haiti.
• Catholic universities, such as Notre Dame and Catholic University, responded immediately by setting up special websites. Others held special masses, prayer services and concerts. Seattle University students cancelled a previously planned trip to Haiti and are now raising funds. Basketball teams at Assumption College in Worchester, MA organized a half-time raffle. The Newman Center at Minnesota State University is organizing a benefit Valentine’s Day dinner.
• Catholic youth and schools are responding with prayers and fundraisers such as dress down days wearing the Haiti colors of red and blue. Some have contributed money in lieu of lunch snacks or are holding Raise Money Right chocolate fundraisers. Many teachers are using a CRS lesson plan to teach about Haiti.

How You Can Help
Visit: www.crs.org for prayers, resources and information about the Haiti Earthquake. See us on Facebook.
Call: 877-Help-CRS (877-435-7277) or Text RELIEF to 25383 to donate $10 on your phone bill.
Mail: Catholic Relief Services, Attn: Haiti Earthquake, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090
Advocate: Join the Catholics Confront Global Poverty legislative network to advocate for issues including international assistance reform, relieving Haiti’s debt, and help for Haitian refugees.
Please share this with other Catholics interested in responding to the Haiti earthquake relief effort.

We’ve been blogging every couple of days about how to pray and give in solidarity with those suffering in Haiti.  Thank you for all your interest and response.  Please download this overview of the tremendous efforts of the U.S. Catholic community and feel free to share it with your community.   Jan 20 Response Update

Last week Katy shared ideas for how CRS Fair Trade fans and other CRS supporters could help the people of Haiti.  Over the weekend, parishioners lifted up prayers of intention.   School children began planning Raise Money Right chocolate fundraisers for Haiti.   Social media whizzes spread the word of CRS’s cause via Facebook.

The response in-country continued too, of course.  While you may hear reports of some delays and concerns, we want to share the latest our media team knows about what is being accomplished:

“Catholic Relief Services began turning a Port-au-Prince golf course into one of the first formal camps for the displaced as other staff delivered medical supplies to St. Francois de Sales hospital, getting that heavily damaged facility up and running, among the many relief efforts by CRS in this devastated city.

As CRS works to get more aid into the country—via air, sea and overland from the Dominican Republic—staff are setting up primary medical care facilities and delivering hygiene kits and plastic sheeting, along with limited amounts of food and water, to a number of informal camps that have sprung up around the city.

At the Petionville Club, CRS is working with United Nations officials and the United States military to turn an informal camp that has attracted 20,000 people during the day and up to 50,000 at night into a formal facility for the displaced, registering residents and delivering buckets of food, sanitation items and water to displaced Haitians waiting in long, orderly lines.

“We are grateful to the 82^nd Airborne for providing security,” said Annemarie Reilly, CRS Vice President for Overseas Operations.  “This camp at Petionville will provide thousands of Haitians with the relief they so desperately need.”

Other CRS personnel worked to unload a rare site in Port-au-Prince—a ship that docked at the one working berth in the heavily-damaged harbor. It carried 2,100 metric tons of food from the USAID Food for Peace program. Getting these containers, mainly filled with grain and vegetable oil, off the dock and to warehouses along the city’s devastated roadways is the next challenge.

“It may look to many in the rest of the world that those in need are not receiving any aid, but actually thousands here in Port-au-Prince have gotten help,” said Karel Zelenka, CRS Haiti country representative. “It must be understood that an apocalypse occurred in a place where there was hardly any infrastructure before—hence the huge logistical challenges.

“Whatever those challenges, we know that the destruction of this earthquake was so vast that even if thousands have gotten help, many, many more need assistance,” he added. “We are all working hard to see that they get it.”

CRS, which has worked in Haiti for over 50 years and has a permanent staff of more than 300 there, has committed at least $25 million for relief and recovery. It has received $16.5 million in cash donations and commitments, including $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and $225,000 from the New York Yankees baseball team.

On the ground, CRS is working with partners from Caritas, the international Catholic aid network, to coordinate its aid response. The agency is also joining aid groups in working with the United Nations as it becomes functional following the destruction of its headquarters and the death of many of its personnel in the 7.0 magnitude quake.

St. Francois de Sales Hospital was familiar to CRS as it had been used to treat people with HIV by the AIDSRelief consortium, which includes CRS. The hospital was heavily damaged in the earthquake, perhaps 70 percent destroyed. It will need reconstruction, but using buildings that remain intact along with tents, doctors have resumed work using supplies from the Catholic Medical Mission Board and others, which CRS delivered. The first operation was one all too common in Port-au-Prince: an amputation.  More operations followed conducted by three medical teams that are now working at St. Francois de Sales: one Haitian, one Italian and one Belgian.

CRS is also setting up primary care centers at sites identified by the Catholic Church.

Each will be staffed by a doctor and a nurse. At least three are in Port-au-Prince and one in Leogane, a city to the west that suffered extensive damage. More sites are being identified as CRS reaches out to t

he AIDSRelief network.”

We appreciate the incredible generosity and spirit US Catholics and others are pouring out.

There are still may ways to pray and give.  To  donate via phone call 1-877-HELP-CRS or text

RELIEF to 30644 You can donate online: www.crs.org If you wish to write a check, please send it to Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, Maryland , 21203-7090. Money orders: Make payable to CRS/Haiti

Please also join us in prayer,

God of all creation, as we weep with our family in Haiti, console us.

Sara Fajardo/CRS

In this time of crisis, open our eyes to look beyond the disaster

to see Christ in our brothers and sisters in Haiti, as Christ sees us.

Be with all creation; strengthen us in solidarity with those living and working in Haiti.

All creation returns to you in mourning and your grace guides our efforts to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the grieving and stand for justice.

With your mercy, sustain us at this time as we continue to work for peace and justice.

Amen.

A message from CRS Executive Vice President, Joan Rosenhauer.

Download this message in a Word document in English or Spanish: CRS Message Earthquake in Haiti; CRS Message Earthquake in Haiti SP

Downloadable donation flyer for Haiti in English or Spanish: Haiti Earthquake Flyer ENG; Haiti Earthquake Flyer SP

January 14, 2010

Help Spread the Word about the Catholic Response in Haiti

Dear CRS Friend,

Over the past 48 hours Catholics across the United States have contacted us asking “how can I help” the people of Haiti as they face this devastating earthquake? Our response is simple and direct: Pray and give. But you may be looking for the opportunity to do a little bit more…

This weekend many dioceses across the country will be taking up a special collection for the people of Haiti. This is a perfect time to encourage others to respond to the urgent needs through CRS.

As you plan to attend Mass this weekend – or participate in other church or community gatherings in the next few weeks – please offer to read the attached message to let people know how they can participate in the Catholic Church’s response in Haiti. (We have also provided a prayer and general intercessions.)

Suggested next steps for getting the message included in mass:
• Ask your pastor if you can deliver the message yourself.
• If you are invited to speak, open with one or two sentences about your personal experience with CRS and then use the attached message. For example, “my name is Sarah Smith and I have been connected with CRS for the past 15 years because I know the good work they do around the world.”
• If not, please ask for the message to be included in announcements.

Your relationship with CRS gives you a unique perspective about the people we serve and the Catholic values CRS brings to our work. You do not need to be an expert about Haiti or emergency response; people just need to know what they can do to help and what organization they can trust.

For more information about CRS’ response to the Haiti earthquake, visit our website: www.crs.org.

God bless you for your support and compassion for the people of Haiti,

Joan Rosenhauer
Executive Vice President
Catholic Relief Services

Catholics Respond to the Haiti Earthquake

Over the past 48 hours Catholics across the US have been asking “how can I help” the people of Haiti as they face this devastating earthquake? Our response is simple and direct: pray and give. Please keep those who are suffering in your prayers.

We can be proud that the Catholic community in the United States is reaching out to our brothers and sisters in Haiti in significant and immediate ways. Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, is mobilizing food, gearing up our emergency capacity, and deploying prepositioned emergency shelter and hygiene kits in Haiti, as well as bringing supplies in from the neighboring Dominican Republic. CRS has made an initial commitment of 5 million dollars for immediate use in the relief effort. Your generous support is greatly needed.

[If there is a special collection]: Please give generously to the special collection for US Catholic response to the Haiti Earthquake. These funds will be used to support the efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, as they respond to immediate emergency needs for such necessities as water, food, shelter and medical care, as well as to the long term need to rebuild after widespread destruction and to the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church in Haiti.

(If the “Collection for the Church in Latin America” will be taken up next weekend, January 23-24) : Please also give generously next weekend to the Collection for the Church in Latin America to respond to the pastoral needs of the Church in Haiti and other parts of Latin America in the weeks and months ahead.

[If there is no special collection:] If you would like to donate, please call 1-877-HELP-CRS, Text: Relief to 30644 or give online at www.crs.org

Prayer:
God of all creation, as we weep with our family in Haiti, console us.
In this time of crisis, open our eyes to look beyond the disaster
to see Christ in our brothers and sisters in Haiti, as Christ sees us.
Be with all creation; strengthen us in solidarity with those living and working in Haiti.
All creation returns to you in mourning and your grace guides our efforts to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the grieving and stand for justice.
With your mercy, sustain us at this time as we continue to work for peace and justice.
Amen.

General Intercessions:

For our Brothers and Sisters in Haiti Affected by the Earthquake

For the people of Haiti, that they may be comforted in their time of suffering. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For the families of those missing, may God’s healing presence comfort them in this time of uncertainty. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For those providing relief, that God may give them the strength and courage to assist those who are most in need. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For those who have died, that they may rest in the eternal peace of God. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our Prayer.

The response will no doubt go on for some time, so feel free to share this with parishes or other groups for use over the next few weeks. For the latest information go to www.crs.org and crsespanol.org.