Earthquake relief efforts of the American Red Cross and its Red Cross partners are making progress. Relief materials are being delivered and more help is on the way by air, land and sea.

Key Developments

• The American Red Cross is performing first aid, delivering water, addressing urgent needs and mobilizing a massive response operation in Haiti.
• First aid posts have been set up in the streets, where Red Cross workers and volunteers from Haiti and other countries are working side-by-side to clean and stitch up wounds amidst the rubble.
• More than 100 Red Cross personnel from two dozen nations are supporting several thousand local volunteers, and more Red Cross teams from around the world are en route.
• The Red Cross is setting up a field hospital in Jacmel that will be able to treat approximately 200 people per day. The field hospitals in the region have a dedicated section to help people cope with emotional trauma. Toys and specially-trained volunteers will be available to comfort children, who are particularly vulnerable.
• The Red Cross has supplied medical kits to treat 2,000 patients, and hundreds of blankets and plastic sheets have also been distributed.
• A Red Cross water trucking program is now providing clean water for about 1,000 people living in a makeshift camp in the Delmas neighborhood. Latrines have also been built in the same area to help address sanitation issues.
• Over the weekend, three planes carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance were expected in the region, delivering a field hospital and needed materials such as tarps, blankets, hygiene items, buckets, shelter supplies and kitchen sets. Another 20,000 relief items should arrive Monday on a cargo plane provided in partnership with FedEx.
• Seven truckloads of materials—that were on an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plane re-routed to the Dominican Republic—will travel over land and are expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince by Sunday.
• In the days ahead, the Red Cross will begin to provide temporary shelters in Haiti. Kits, containing tarps, rope and tools, as well as tents and blankets, will be made available for an initial 20,000 families.
• American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern is going to Haiti on Monday with Red Cross leadership from around the world and will visit relief operations.

Terrible times like these bring out the best in people, and the American Red Cross is grateful for the support it has received. As of January 16, the American Red Cross has raised more than $87 million for relief efforts. The Red Cross will spend much more than that to help the people of Haiti; the damage is extensive and will require a massive and costly long-term recovery operation.

• People who want to help those affected by the Haitian earthquake, can make a designated donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Donations may be sent to the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis, 441 E. 10th St., Indianapolis, IN 46202-3388, made online at www.indyredcross.org/donate or by phone at 317-684-1441.
• The Red Cross is also receiving money through a third-party mobile fund-raising effort in which mobile donors can text "Haiti" to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the American Red Cross.

You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year, like the earthquake in Haiti, 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. Donations can be mailed to the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis, 441 E. 10th St., Indianapolis, IN 46202-3388, made online at www.indyredcross.org/donate or by phone at 317-684-1441.