Washington, DC - Last night, a devastating earthquake struck 10 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, registering 7.3 on the Richter scale and leaving the capital and surrounding areas in ruins. We remain attentive to news updates, which estimate that more than 100,000 people have died and more than 3 million have been affected and are left without electricity. Haiti’s president, René Préval, said the toll was “unimaginable” and included the collapse of many government buildings, foreign aid headquarters, hospitals, schools, and shantytowns.

We are reaching out to our Haitian grantee partners to determine how best to assist their efforts on the ground. We are concerned for their safety, but have not been able to establish direct contact with them. We know there will be incredible demands for support once communication is re-established and have activated our emergency grant funds to begin to meet their needs. As a country of extreme poverty, Haiti will rely on the response of the international community.

The time to act is now.

We have three current grantee partners in Haiti — Asanble Vwazen Jakè in Port-au-Prince, Pazapa in Jacmel, and Light for All in Lhomond. Each of these groups has established innovative community schools for extremely low-income children, and Pazapa works specifically with children with disabilities. We know that Port-au-Prince and Jacmel have been devastated and our partners do not have the resources to respond to a crisis of this magnitude. In addition to our regular grants, emergency grants to Haiti will make the difference in a grantee’s ability to take immediate action to provide support and rebuild the community.

We ask that you, as the community and supporters of The Global Fund for Children, join us in the emergency response effort by making a donation today. Your contribution will directly assist our grassroots partners. As the story continues to unfold, The Global Fund for Children commits to solidarity with our partners and continued assistance by providing regular updates and news from our partners on our website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

Thank you for your support of the people of Haiti.