Save the Children delivers food, water, and essential medical supplies to 14 hospitals in Haiti

Jan 19 2010

Westport, CT-headquartered Save the Children is on the ground in Haiti following last week's devastating earthquake, delivering food, water, and essential medical supplies to 14 hospitals and medical clinics in the impacted area.

Connecticut residents and volunteer groups such as the Greenwich Leadership Council are joining the effort by hosting fundraisers and telethons. Local companies are offering to match employees' donations to Save the Children. Several Connecticut-based staff members of Save the Children, including CEO Charles MacCormack, have flown to Port-au-Prince to assist in the agency's emergency response.

Katherine Bolles, Save the Children's Emergency Health and Nutrition Director, who lived in Norwalk before transferring to the organization's Washington, D.C. office, says she is concerned about the increased health risks for children in Haiti, as clean water supplies become scarce and sanitation conditions deteriorate.

Save the Children, one of the first organizations to help survivors of the earthquake, has worked in communities throughout Haiti for more than 25 years, providing education, health care and other services to children and families. Staff avoided the logjam at Port-au-Prince's airport by shipping a truckload of supplies from the neighboring Dominican Republic. Desperately needed medicines have gone to the Hospital de l'Espoir (Hope Hospital), which also supports local orphanages.

Haiti's children will require assistance in the months and years to come, and Save the Children is committed to Haiti's long-term recovery. Bolles says, "The children are strong and resilient. We just need to support and protect them."

Save the Children has received consistently high marks in financial management and program efficiency from charity watchdogs, such as Guidestar, Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.