RED CROSS TO HOLD SECOND COMMUNITY HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FORUM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Bill Harrison

804-780-2256

harrisonb@usa.redcross.org

The American Red Cross, Greater Richmond Chapter, will hold a Haitian Earthquake Community Forum on Wednesday, February 10^th, 2-3pm at the Chapter headquarters, 420 East Cary Street, Richmond, 23219.

Organizations that are involved in the Haitian relief effort and other interested parties are invited. The purpose is to give Richmond area agencies an opportunity to share their respective response activities and to learn of possible collaborative possibilities. The Chapter coordinated such a forum the day after the earthquake and it proved to be a needed community resource.

“The community’s response to the earthquake has been quite positive and if there are ways we can help each other to ensure the best possible delivery of services to the Haitian people, we want to explore those options,” stated Reggie Gordon, Greater Richmond Chapter CEO.

For more information about the forum call Bill Harrison at the American Red Cross, 780-2256.

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UKROP’S SUPER MARKETS , FIRST MARKET BANK AND THEIR CUSTOMERS AGAIN SUPPORT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 4, 2010
Contact: Bill Harrison

804-780-2256

Over $112,000 Being Donated to Haiti Relief Efforts

“Whenever a disaster strikes, Americans know the Red Cross will be there. The same has proven true with Ukrops and First Market Bank,” stated Reginald Gordon, CEO of the American Red Cross, Greater Richmond Chapter. “The businesses, along with the allegiance of their customers, have always enabled the Red Cross to provide help to those who call upon us.”

And that help continues. Today members of the Ukrops family along with company associates and customers presented the American Red Cross with a check for $112,383.27 to aid the organization’s relief efforts in Haiti. The presentation took place at the Ukrop’s Carytown store, 3522 West Cary Street, 23221.

Of that total, $62,387.27 was donated by the grocery store and bank customers. “Our customers set the pace for this,” shared Bobby Ukrop, president and CEO of Ukrops Super Markets. “They were asking when the Haiti donation program would begin before we had even worked out the details to set it in motion.” The company pledged to match the customer donations up to $50,000, a goal that was exceeded by over $12,000.00.

“The Ukrops family also contributes to the Red Cross on personal levels through donating time,” continued Gordon. “Ted Ukrop has served on our board for several years and has been stalwart in raising funds and in increasing community awareness of our programs. His cousin, Rob Ukrop, is the chair of our Heroes Campaign which is our major drive for the funding of our local programs.”

The Red Cross has focused on food, water and shelter throughout the initial stages of the relief operation, having spent or committed $78 million thus far. “This operation will continue for years,” said Gordon. “The work has just begun.”

Photos are available on the Chapter’s Facebook page here.

American Red Cross Delivers Critical Supplies to Haiti

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bill Harrison

804-780-2256

804-396-0162

American Red Cross Delivers Critical Supplies to Haiti

Tens of millions spent or committed for key priorities of food, water and shelter

WASHINGTON, Thursday, January 28, 2010 — In an operation that has involved more emergency response teams than any other single-country disaster in global Red Cross history, the American Red Cross has so far spent or committed more than $67 million to meet the most urgent needs of earthquake survivors in Haiti.

The American Red Cross is currently focusing on three areas through its emergency responders and partners:

Sending food to those in need, including 3 million pre-packaged meals and funding for World Food Program efforts that will enable them to feed up to 1 million people for a month.

Providing clean drinking water, including 3.5 million liters distributed to date in 68 settlements. Each day, the Red Cross is distributing enough water for 100,000 people.

Distributing shelter items, such as blankets, tarps, sleeping mats and tents, to families who have been left homeless.

The Red Cross is also meeting the health needs of Haitian survivors and providing support to Haitian families in Haiti and the US. This includes providing relief supplies, shipment of blood products, family linking services and providing Red Cross volunteers to the USNS Comfort, which have been in Haiti for one week.

To date, 79 percent of the funds have been committed or spent on food and water; 18 percent on shelter items; and the remainder on health and family services.

More than 49 flights carrying Red Cross aid have arrived in Haiti. Additional planes, ships and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are en route. For example, yesterday, 15 trucks of relief supplies arrived from Santo Domingo. A new Red Cross warehouse with more than 50,000 square feet of capacity is also now operational in Port-au-Prince, which means that relief supplies have a safe place to be stored ahead of distribution.

Although the current focus is on addressing urgent needs, the American Red Cross is also looking ahead and applying experience gained after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. For the past five years, the American Red Cross has been working with partners in Southeast Asia to construct water and sanitation systems, provide emotional support and health care, build shelters, restore livelihoods and prepare communities for the next disaster. The American Red Cross plans to offer a similar level of support in close collaboration with Red Cross partners and other international and local aid organizations in Haiti.

People can donate in support of the relief effort in Haiti at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS. Mobile donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to make a $10 contribution. A $10 donation made through mobile giving can provide a family with two water cans to store clean drinking water, basic first aid supplies or a blanket appropriate to the climate.

You can help the victims of countless crises, like the recent earthquake in Haiti, around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation by mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Donations to the International Response Fund can be made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at www.redcross.org.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation’s blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission.

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