Earthquake Relief: How To Help Haiti

Emergency food, medical supplies and personnel are being rushed to Haiti from around the world following Tuesday's devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake. So how can you help? We've compiled a list of relief organizations, both local and international, accepting donations to aid the victims.

Local Groups:

In a Wednesday press release, Mayor Thomas M. Menino's office outlined its plan of assistance, including the establishment of a relief fund to support local families with relatives in Haiti. According to the release, the “Fund for Boston Neighborhoods, Inc. — Haitian Family Relief” will be administered by Bank of America and donations can be made at any local branch.

The Archdiocese of Boston's Catholic Charities is receiving emergency relief through Catholic Relief Services.

Another Boston-based group, Oxfam America, which focuses on issues of poverty and injustice, has established an Earthquake Response Fund.

Partners In Development, a Christian service organization out of Ipswich, and with staff in Guatemala and Haiti, has added a relief fund to its causes of economic and educational development.

Another local organization, Partners In Health, has set up a donation page on its Web site. PIH has, for years, had a flagship operation in Haiti providing health care options to the poor.

A group based in Hull, The Haiti Saint Rock Foundation, has operated a medical clinic and provided community services in Haiti for nearly 10 years. The village of St. Rock was closer to the earthquake's epicenter than Port-au-Prince.

Grassroots International, a Boston-based international development and human rights organization, is also accepting relief donations. The group has more than 20 years experience in Haiti.

Additionally, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley has established a fund for the Haitian community in the Boston area. The fund is to provide counseling and crisis management to local families, and to allow those family members the ability to offer financial support.

International Groups:

A number of medical care groups have established funds to treat the casualties, including Doctors Without Borders, International Medical Corps, Medical Teams International and Haitian Health Foundation, a program that has offered public health outreach in Haiti since the early 1980's.

Separately, a number of emergency response and disaster relief organizations are mobilizing and requesting aid, including the Help For Haiti fund of AmeriCares, a nonprofit that specializes in emergency response and humanitarian aid, and the Los Angeles-based Operation USA, which has offered relief and development aid in 99 countries over three decades.

Save the Children, which has been on the ground in Haiti for years, has also established a donation fund to provide safe drinking water, clean clothing and other necessities to victims and those displaced.

Other emergency relief efforts include the American Red Cross' International Relief Fund, Direct Relief International, Islamic Relief USA and the United Way Worldwide's Disaster Relief Fund.

More broadly focused organizations that have also opened donation initiatives include the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations World Food Program and The Salvation Army.

Information On Relatives:

Additionally, for those looking for information about relatives in Haiti, the U.S. State Department's telephone hotline is 1-888-407-4747.