Haiti Rocked By Massive Earthquake

UPDATE: We will be continually updating this disaster relief list as new resources and links become available. We strongly encourage readers to support the organizations below, working around-the-clock on relief efforts in Haiti.

A catastrophic 7.0 earthquake rocked the country of Haiti on Tuesday, striking 10 miles west of the country's capital, Port-au-Prince.

Crisis and aid organizations are rapidly organizing to provide emergency support services in Haiti, from dispensing life-saving medical supplies to ensuring emergency shelter. This is a major catastrophe, quite possibly the worst natural disaster ever experienced in the Caribbean. It's going to require an immediate international response to respond to this dire state of emergency.

One of the best ways for you to help support international relief efforts is to give through one of the organizations below. All of these organizations are providing on-the-ground services in Haiti during these critical hours and days of immediate recovery.

ActionAid has been in Haiti since 1996, working with over 30,000 people. They are on the ground and urgently working to help save lives in the short term, while also looking to provide assistance to Haitians to rebuild their lives.

AmeriCares has been providing humanitarian aid to Haiti since 1984 and they are already working with partners on the ground to deliver humanitarian aid and disaster relief. AmeriCares has started assembling a $3.2 million airlift of medicines, hospital supplies and other critical medical aid.

Oxfam has had a sustained presence in Haiti and the 200 staffers currently stationed in the country, including a highly trained emergency response team of 15, are rushing to meet the basic needs of people who may have lost everything.

PlanUSA has released $100,000 of emergency funds and is on the ground to help deal with the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday evening. PlanUSA will provide immediate emergency relief to survivors and address recovery needs in the coming days.

UNICEF's response, coordinated with other UN agencies and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, is aimed at children and women, who are the most vulnerable in times of crisis. Children under 18 make up nearly 50 percent of Haiti’s 10 million population.

CARE is deploying emergency team members to Port-au-Prince, and has launched an international appeal for funds for Haiti that will support emergency operations. CARE plans to start food distribution using stocks of high-protein biscuits from its warehouses, and is coordinating with UN agencies to assess on-the-ground needs.

Mercy Corps has experience responding to previous earthquakes, most recently in Padang, Indonesia last September, and they are currently deploying emergency staff to Haiti. Mercy Corps will be responding to hard-hit areas of Port-au-Prince, providing crisis services.

Partners in Health staff have been working rapidly in both Haiti and Boston to assess the emergency medical situation on the ground. PIH will be leveraging the skills of more than 120 doctors and nearly 500 nurses and nursing assistants in Haiti, providing emergency medical care to survivors.

SOS Children's Villages, since 1979, has provided nurturing families, education, and medical care to orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti. Now that disaster has struck, the organizations is multiplying their efforts to provide relief to thousands of children and families in need.

A senior staff member of Doctors Without Borders reports, “The situation is chaotic, I visited five medical centers, including a major hospital, and most of them were not functioning." Doctors Without Borders is currently deploying emergency medical care for Haitians affected by the disaster.

American Jewish World Service’s President Ruth Messinger writes on Change.org about her reaction to the devastation in Haiti. Help support AJWS’s work, which for more than a decade has been supporting grassroots organizations in Haiti.

Action Against Hunger/ACF International is mobilizing emergency services on the ground in Haiti. Teams have started rapid evaluations, while more support, equipment, and materials -- including water treatment supplies, vehicles, and communications equipment -- are en route from ACF’s bases in Gonaives, Haiti.

Finca International has been operating in Haiti since 1989. They will work to make sure basic human needs are met immediately in the areas surrounding Port-au-Prince. In the coming weeks, they are also ready to commit fresh loan capital to enable current clients to salvage existing businesses, whenever possible, or start new businesses.

Handicap International, an international nongovernmental organization that works to improve the living conditions of people living in disabling situations in post-conflict or low-income countries, is providing emergency relief for survivors of Haiti's earthquake.

Change.org will continue to update this list over the coming days as new contacts come in. Our hearts go out to all of those affected by this devastating natural disaster.

Photo credit: UNDP Global