News

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) expresses deep sympathy to all those affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. While the total devastation is still unknown, Tuesday’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake left Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince in ruins, and death toll estimates range from 30,000 to over 100,000.

 

“The NVFC is deeply saddened by the current situation in Haiti, and our sympathy goes out to all those suffering in the aftermath of this disaster as well as the families of those who lost their lives,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg.

 

If you want to make a donation to assist in the recovery and relief efforts, visit the InterAction web site at www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti to get an alphabetical listing of agencies and organizations responding to the crisis and accepting donations. You can also text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill. To find information to help make an informed decision when supporting charities, visit www.give.org.

 

Monetary donations are the most effective and efficient means of providing support for a disaster like this. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), volunteer opportunities in disaster settings are extremely rare, and are usually limited to people with prior disaster experience and technical skills. To register your skills and experience for a possible volunteer opportunity, go to the Center for International Disaster Information's registration page at www.cidi.org/reg_off.htm.

 

FEMA offers additional information about donations and volunteering during disaster response at www.fema.gov/rebuild/recover/howtohelp.shtm.

 

Families of Americans living in Haiti can contact the State Department at 1-888-407-4747 for information.