Haiti is reeling from a devastating earthquake, COVID-19 pandemic and political instability. Here's how to help.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti took nearly 1,500 lives, decimated homes, schools, offices and churches across the country and left hospitals overwhelmed with thousands of people injured.
Meanwhile, Grace lashed Haiti as a tropical depression on Monday, dumping up to 10 inches of rain before regaining tropical storm status early Tuesday. The heavy rains pelted people huddling in fields and searching for survivors.
To make matters worse, Haiti is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, recovery from other disasters, and the assassination last month of President Jovenel Moïse.
Political leaders, volunteers and residents from across the globe have raised support and offered help. Even more have asked how they can help. But nonprofit groups and experts say such factors will make raising money for the nation even tougher.
And aid to Haiti has been under scrutiny for years, which was compounded in 2015 when an investigation from ProPublica and NPR questioned where $500 million raised by the American Red Cross was spent. Their investigation found that the Red Cross had grossly overstated how many houses the organization built in the years after the 2010 Haitian earthquake and had used portions of the money to cover overhead and management.
The American Red Cross said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that it is not seeking donations for Haiti relief at this time, but will work with its partners – including the Haitian Red Cross and the Red Crescent – to respond to the earthquake. It also disputed the ProPublica-NPR findings.
How to help Haiti: List of organizations
People who want to help the people of Haiti can check out these organizations:
Partners in Health employs more than 6,300 staff, including 2,500 community health workers, to provide primary care, maternal and child health care, HIV and tuberculosis services, and more advanced secondary and tertiary care. The organization is working to provide hospital beds and outreach teams. Donate here.
SOIL has been working in some of the poorest areas in Haiti to facilitate the community-identified priority of ecological sanitation since before the 2010 earthquake. The organization has worked to "take emergency supplies to the areas affected and assess the need," it wrote on its donation page. Donate here.
Locally Haiti has been working to secure requested items for medical workers, for families and for the school tit founded in 1989. Donate here.
World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés said on Twitter that the organization that supplies meals to countries in need is ready to help. The organization later tweeted that "we have activated our culinary school kitchen in Port-au-Prince & also have a team in Jeremie working to get food in & distributed before the storm hits." Donate here.
Hope for Haiti is working on the ground in Haiti. The Florida-based organization is gearing up to distribute $60 million in first aid supplies and medical equipment. Donate here and tag your donation.
If you're looking at another organization where you can send help, check to see whether it is legitimate. An easy way to check is by going to charitynavigator.org. It's better to donate to local organizations, experts say, or organizations with Haitians on their staff and on the ground.
Haiti's death toll from earthquake soars to 1,400 as Tropical Depression Grace dumps 'torrential rains'
'Losses will be high': How Haiti's earthquake compares with its 2010 quake in size, devastation
Contributing: Gabriela Miranda, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Haiti earthquake: How to help Haiti earthquake victims 2021
