A press release from the American Red Cross

We feel it's important to share updates from the American Red Cross with the generous donors who contributed to our $545,603 gift for Haitian earthquake relief. To that end, we're sharing excerpts from a two-month progress report that we received from the from the Red Cross. Our donation has helped to contribute to these important efforts. Thank you to all who joined us.

"While there is still massive need everywhere you look, I have seen signs of resilience, recovery and renewal in Haiti," said David Meltzer, Senior Vice President of International Services with the American Red Cross, one day after returning from his second trip to the country since the earthquake.

The American Red Cross has raised approximately $354 million for the Haiti relief and development efforts. To date, it has spent or allocated $106.4 million, with approximately 52 percent of the funds going for food, water and relief supplies; 36 percent for shelter; 8 percent for health and family services; and 4 percent for livelihoods.

As the response progresses and recovery begins, the Red Cross will continue to support these priority areas and longer-term assistance initiatives until the last donated dollar is spent.

More than 50 disaster specialists representing the American Red Cross are in Haiti working alongside thousands of Haitian Red Cross volunteers as part of a broader and coordinated network of Red Cross and Red Crescent responders from nearly 40 nations.

In the two months since the earthquake, the global Red Cross network has:

• Provided relief items for 400,000 people.
• Handed out nearly 99,000 tarps, tents and toolkits.
• Supplied meals for more than 1 million people.
• Distributed 40 million liters of clean drinking water.
• Built more than 1,100 latrines.
• Helped vaccinate more than 125,000 people.
• Coordinated the shipment of more than 1,800 blood units to medical facilities.
• Treated more than 55,000 people at Red Cross hospitals or mobile clinics.
• Sent more than 23 million text messages with critical health advice to survivors.
• Received more than 28,400 registrations on its family linking Web site.
• Assisted more than 25,000 people who arrived in the U.S. following the earthquake.
• Deployed more than 600 international responders to Haiti.

Shelter
With an estimated 1.3 million left homeless by the earthquake, the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies collectively have already distributed emergency shelter materials to an estimated 650,000 people--half of the people without a place to live. The organizations are on track to reach the remainder of people without shelter on or before May 1, which is the peak of the rainy season.

The Red Cross is spearheading plans to provide more durable cover, including the construction of transitional shelters for 250,000 of Haiti's most vulnerable people. 

Food, Water and Other Relief Items
At the same time that it is addressing immediate and longer-term shelter solutions, the Red Cross continues to provide life-sustaining food, water and relief items for Haitians. Up to 12,500 people are receiving food and basic supplies every day.

Relief workers are also providing 1.5 million liters of water each day in more than 120 locations throughout Port-au-Prince and outlying areas. And sanitation experts are constructing latrines, developing waste-disposal solutions, and installing hand-washing facilities and showers in support of spontaneous settlements.

Livelihoods
To complement ongoing aid distributions in Port-au-Prince and reach additional families in need, the American Red Cross announced March 10 that it will provide financial assistance to help an initial 16,000 families purchase and replace essential items over the next six months through a partnership with Haiti's largest microfinance institution, Fonkoze.

Among this group receiving financial assistance from the American Red Cross are 6,000 host families in rural communities now caring for loved ones who fled the disaster zone. An additional 10,000 women who have lost their homes, business or both will also receive a grant to help meet their families' immediate needs as well as a small loan to restart their businesses and restore their families' source of income.

Health
When the Haitian government decided that it needed to resume vaccination campaigns to help prevent the spread of disease among the spontaneous settlements, the Red Cross was one of the first organizations to respond by making resources available to protect at least 250,000 children and adults from measles, diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. With 120 volunteer vaccinators on the ground, the Red Cross and its partners began vaccinating as many as 10,000 people in a single day. To date, 50 percent of the targeted people have received this lifesaving opportunity.

Additionally, more than 55,000 people have been treated at Red Cross hospitals and mobile clinics in Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities. The American Red Cross has also coordinated the shipment of more than 1,800 units of blood to Haiti for treatment of the ill and injured.

Looking Ahead
In coming months and years, the American Red Cross will work with partners to rebuild the many services that communities require to function, including establishing water and sanitation systems, health programs and sustainable livelihoods. The American Red Cross will also play an important role in helping to prepare the country for future emergencies, including the upcoming Caribbean hurricane season.

To learn more and read the complete report, please visit redcross.org/haiti.