On August 14, 2021, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti’s southern peninsula, 80 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Thanks to our generous Canadian donors, we have been able to play a significant role in the relief efforts to get Haitian families back on track.
A few days before the earthquake devastated the nation, we shipped a 40’ container of dried vegetable soup, barley, and almonds providing over 805,000 meals in partnership with Ontario Christian Gleaners and Joy and Hope of Haiti; the container was received by Haitian communities shortly after the earthquake. Thanks to Food For The Poor Haiti staff, we have been able to distribute food, water, and emergency supplies. Our distribution team is still working to help the families living in the area affected by the earthquake. We will continue supporting communities in southern Haiti by sending containers of essential items.
We are grateful to be working with a new partner in the emergency response and preparedness space, GlobalMedic. Through this new partnership, last month, we were able to provide Haitian communities with a 40’ container of 1,152,000 face masks.
We are planning to ship three more containers before the end of 2021, including a container of dried vegetable soup, trail mix, barley, and almonds with our food partner Ontario Christian Gleaners, and another container of dried vegetable soup with our food partner Okanagan Gleaners. Our third container will consist of emergency food and supply kits for families containing aqua tablets for water purification, hygiene kits, solar lamps, and oral rehydration salts, and will be shipped with the help of our emergency response partner GlobalMedic. With these containers, we hope to provide close to 2 million meals to those in need, and distribute over 1,700 emergency food and supply kits to families affected by the earthquake.
In the year ahead, we are committed to helping rebuild homes destroyed in the region. Since the 2010 earthquake, Food For The Poor has built over 15,000 homes across Haiti and all have withstood the earthquake. While homes a bit farther out have not been damaged, some closer to the fault line have cracked and will need to be repaired. There is still work to be done in Haiti, but we can only make progress with your support. You can help us deliver aid to Haiti by making a donation.