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Haiti

Emergency Appeal: YMCA supporting Haiti earthquake victims

Today, the World Alliance of YMCAs together with the Latin American and Caribbean Alliance of YMCAs (LACA) is launching an international appeal to the YMCA movement in support of the Haiti earthquake victims.

The Haitian people are suffering a crisis of a magnitude that no one can comprehend. On the evening of the earthquake, Gwénaël Apollon, General Secretary of YMCA Haiti reported that he, his family, and YMCA staff had survived, but that YMCA operations had been severely impacted.

The global YMCA movement is responding with a coordinated effort to address the immediate needs of the children, families and devastated communities in Port au Prince, and surrounding areas by providing immediate financial support to respond to the urgent basic needs of those affected. Working in collaboration with the Red Cross, Action Churches Together and other relief and emergency agencies, the YMCA is providing food, water, medicines, blankets and other necessary relief items.

A YMCA assessment team with YMCA volunteers from the Dominican Republic and other countries is planning to travel to Haiti in the coming hours to assess the situation and deliver critical supplies and support to those impacted. They will also get in contact with YMCA Haiti, with whom communication has been very difficult over the last days, due to the damaged telecommunication system in the country.

Beyond these immediate efforts, the YMCA will also evaluate the long-term needs of the impacted communities to ensure the security and stability of children, youth and families in Haiti.

The coordination of the relief operations will be ensured by the LACA sub-regional office for the Caribbean, based in the Dominican Republic, with the support of the World Alliance of YMCAs.

We appeal to you to do your best to support the relief efforts for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Please transfer your donations directly to the special YMCA relief account in the Dominican Republic. The account details are as a follows:

Banco Popular

Maximo Gomez Avenue and JFK avenue

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Account holder: Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes

Account number:757457023

SWIFT:BPDODOSXXX

ABA CODE:06711171.

Updates on the YMCA's efforts will be posted as they become available. For more information, please contact the head office of the Latin American and Caribbean Alliance in S=E3o Paulo, Brazil:

secretariogeneral(at)lacaymca.org

00-55-11-3257-5867) or

the World Alliance of YMCAs in Geneva:

simon.pluess(at)ymca.int

00-41-22-849- 51- 00

We ask for your prayers for the YMCA and the people of Haiti.