notes: 10/22/10: Update from Operation Blessing on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti Bill Horan, Haiti Country Director for Operation Blessing, forwarded the below account just after midnight by OB staffer David Darg. Operation Blessing is one of Partners in Health’s most generous and reliable partners. “When we need something done, we call Operation Blessing,” as my husband Jim says. We woke to some disturbing news today. Our friends at Partners in Health emailed to say that there were people arriving at St. Marc hospital in droves, sick with diarrhea and that people were dying from dehydration at an alarming rate. The question was clear, could Operation Blessing mobilize to provide clean water to an area suspected of having Haiti’s first major cholera outbreak in decades. Our staff immediately began loading our trucks with equipment and supplies, just two days ago we responded to emergency flooding near Leogane so the drill was fresh in our minds. During the 2 hour drive to St. Marc the details began to emerge of what was unfolding in the region. Email traffic on my phone was showing the death toll climbing steadily while there was still speculation as to what was causing the sickness. Many of us suspected Cholera but some of our Haitian staff had heard rumors on the radio that villagers had been made sick through contaminated sea food. There was definitely an air of nervous tension amongst the staff. We arrived at St Marc hospital to a horror scene. I had to fight my way though the gate as a huge crowd of worried relatives stood outside while others were screaming for access as they carried dying relatives into the compound. The inside of the courtyard was lined with patients hooked up to IV drips. It had just rained and there were people lying on soggy sheets on the ground half soaked with rain, half soaked with feces. Children were screaming and writhing in agony, others were motionless with their eyes rolled into the back of their heads as doctors and nursing staff searched desperately for a vein to give them an IV. The hospital was overwhelmed, caught suddenly by one of the fastest killers there is, Cholera (still to be confirmed). Our friend, Cate Oswald, from Partners In Health came out from one of the triage tents clutching a hand drawn map. It showed the local river and had the names of a few communities where the patients had been coming from. Cate and some PIH staff loaded into a vehicle and led us into the countryside to find the source of the epidemic. Soon we were heading down narrow dirt roads with rice paddies and canals on either side. The crisis had actually started yesterday but had only really come to light last night when doctors realized it was getting serious. By then the villagers had heard of the deaths and word spread quickly not to drink water from the river. Most people had stopped drinking the river water and had gone thirsty for hours. The roads were lined with villagers holding buckets, begging for water. Some larger groups of villagers had set up road blocks and our convoy was forced to stop and explain that we didn’t have water, only equipment to purify water and we were only heading to the source of the problem. The villagers reluctantly let us pass and we pressed on. People were constantly trying to flag us down and pointing to sick friends and relatives. One group forced us to stop and had a girl seriously close to death. The PIH staff quickly started her on an IV and placed her in their vehicle. Her mother, clutching another baby, explained that her husband had died yesterday and asked us to save her daughter; Cate and the PIH staff did save her. We arrived at the place where many of the patients had originated from, a small dusty community called Babou La Port. The Operation Blessing team immediately went into action setting up our water purification system. The key to the unit is that it filters and chlorinates, which ensures that any bacteria or diseases are killed in the water. As we worked the PIH team asked the community to split into two groups, those who felt ok and those who felt sick. The huge group of people began to split with sick villagers of all ages congregating under the shade of some large trees. The medical staff placed IV’s in some critical patients. One of them, a boy named Frantz, was bought to us by his grandmother. He was weak and vomiting. His grandmother was frail and could only point to the river when we asked her how long Frantz had been ill. The unfortunate reality in this part of the world is that diarrhea is a common and frequent problem. But a villager with Cholera might lay down upon feeling ill expecting to get better as they often do, and be dead within hours. Convoys of trucks plastered with the posters of various presidential candidates paraded on the dirt roads in the area. Many of the candidates saw this as an opportunity to campaign. They were tossing out small plastic bags of water to the desperate crowds, there were fights for the water and one man was crushed under one of their trucks in the scuffle. Our filtration unit fired up and word spread quickly that there was water available. Soon a sea of multi colored buckets surrounded us. Villagers were appearing from every direction desperate to get drinking water. The tap stand was quickly surrounded and water flowed. There were no cheers and little laughter; most of the villagers there were stunned, afraid and weak. They were just relieved to have access to water. Every so often a villager would thank us in a gentle voice. The system kept pumping clean water and night began to set in. I asked our Haitian staff if any of them would be willing to stay with the system overnight and keep it operating. It was a daunting challenge, to stay awake surrounded by deadly disease and desperate villagers but the staff stepped up to the challenge. Tonight there are OB Haiti staff members operating the water system giving life saving water to thousands and thousands of people in the midst of a horrific epidemic. Confident that the system was in good hands we set back to St Marc. Back at the hospital in St Marc not much had changed, other than the death toll. As I write this the confirmed death toll is 135 and rising with thousands more infected. Tonight there were still patients being carried into the hospital close to death. Now however the cries of the mothers are louder and there were even more people at the gates desperate to hear news of their loved ones. The hospital is struggling to cope with such a sudden influx of patients especially considering that it is still recuperating from the January earthquake. The last time I saw anything like this was a cholera outbreak in Bihar India in 2007. Now Cholera seems to have flared in Haiti to compound the misery of the earthquake and floods. The scenes I saw at St Marc reminded me of Port Au Prince after the earthquake: patients lying in the streets, doctors struggling to cope, mass hysteria and fatigue. This morning at the hospital my friend Dr Koji from Partners in Health shook my hand and said “Let’s stop this”. The only way to stop a disease like Cholera is to stop people from getting contaminated, primarily through unclean water. Thanks to Operation Blessing the hardest hit areas now have access to safe water and thanks to Partners in Health, treatment is available for those who are already sick. Together we are doing all we can to “Stop This” and we can only do it thanks to your support. Thank you. ---------------------------- http://www.aerdo.net/blog/?p=516 Operation Blessing Intl. Operation Blessing International has mobilized hdqtr staff to Port au Prince who will be arriving on Thursday, Jan 14th, to assist in assessment and emergency response. Our in-country director is safe though his house was destroyed. We have not yet been able to reach our Haiti HIV/AIDS grants director, Jean Marc Zamor. OBI’s director of international disaster relief, David Darg, will arrive on Thursday. For more information, visit www.ob.org. Contact info is deborah.bensen@ob.org, 757-226-3440 from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless -> FROM RELIEF WEB: OPERATION BLESSING INTERNATIONAL PREPARING FOR HURRICANE STRIKE IN HAITI Source: Operation Blessing International Date: 02 Nov 2010 With 1 Million People Still Living In Tents, Plus Current Cholera Outbreak, Storm Has Potential To Be Extremely Devastating, Says Bill Horan Port au Prince, Haiti (November 2, 2010) - Operation Blessing International (OBI) is preparing for a possible hurricane strike later this week as Tomas spins nearer to the island nation. Current National Hurricane Center predictions show the storm intensifying as it passes southeast of Jamaica and then turns north directly towards Haiti later this week. Bill Horan, president of Operation Blessing International, says, "If Tomas strikes Haiti as a major hurricane, this has the potential to be one of the biggest disasters in recent memory. There are over one million vulnerable people living in tents, and there's also an outbreak of cholera - which would only escalate as torrential rains cause flooding, spread disease and contaminate drinking water. It's unfathomable to think what might happen." To prepare for this storm, Operation Blessing International has mobilized its disaster relief team in Haiti. Today, David Darg, international disaster relief director for the charity, readied a WMI water purification plant for deployment on a truck so that it can be sent to the hardest hit area within hours of the storm. The unit is able to produce up to 10,000 gallons of clean drinking water each day. OBI currently operates 33 WMI purification units in and around Port-au-Prince as well as in areas hit by recent cholera outbreak. The team also prepared a number of portable family-sized water purifiers and other supplies including tarps and non-perishable food. Depending on the path of the storm, the team will be staged in either Port au Prince or Jacmel. OBI is also continuing its efforts to combat the cholera outbreak. One of the first responders in the St. Marc region, the team has deployed five WMI water purification plants including three in remote villages that were using the contaminated river for drinking water, one unit that was flown by a UN helicopter to another remote village last Thursday, and one installed yesterday in St Marc's central hospital at the request of Partners In Health, who is managing the outbreak on behalf of the Haiti Ministry of Health. OBI has also distributed dozens of Lifesaver Jerry cans in the area. ------------------------------------------- 10/22/10: Update from Operation Blessing on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti Bill Horan, Haiti Country Director for Operation Blessing, forwarded the below account just after midnight by OB staffer David Darg. Operation Blessing is one of Partners in Health’s most generous and reliable partners. “When we need something done, we call Operation Blessing,” as my husband Jim says. We woke to some disturbing news today. Our friends at Partners in Health emailed to say that there were people arriving at St. Marc hospital in droves, sick with diarrhea and that people were dying from dehydration at an alarming rate. The question was clear, could Operation Blessing mobilize to provide clean water to an area suspected of having Haiti’s first major cholera outbreak in decades. Our staff immediately began loading our trucks with equipment and supplies, just two days ago we responded to emergency flooding near Leogane so the drill was fresh in our minds. During the 2 hour drive to St. Marc the details began to emerge of what was unfolding in the region. Email traffic on my phone was showing the death toll climbing steadily while there was still speculation as to what was causing the sickness. Many of us suspected Cholera but some of our Haitian staff had heard rumors on the radio that villagers had been made sick through contaminated sea food. There was definitely an air of nervous tension amongst the staff. We arrived at St Marc hospital to a horror scene. I had to fight my way though the gate as a huge crowd of worried relatives stood outside while others were screaming for access as they carried dying relatives into the compound. The inside of the courtyard was lined with patients hooked up to IV drips. It had just rained and there were people lying on soggy sheets on the ground half soaked with rain, half soaked with feces. Children were screaming and writhing in agony, others were motionless with their eyes rolled into the back of their heads as doctors and nursing staff searched desperately for a vein to give them an IV. The hospital was overwhelmed, caught suddenly by one of the fastest killers there is, Cholera (still to be confirmed). Our friend, Cate Oswald, from Partners In Health came out from one of the triage tents clutching a hand drawn map. It showed the local river and had the names of a few communities where the patients had been coming from. Cate and some PIH staff loaded into a vehicle and led us into the countryside to find the source of the epidemic. Soon we were heading down narrow dirt roads with rice paddies and canals on either side. The crisis had actually started yesterday but had only really come to light last night when doctors realized it was getting serious. By then the villagers had heard of the deaths and word spread quickly not to drink water from the river. Most people had stopped drinking the river water and had gone thirsty for hours. The roads were lined with villagers holding buckets, begging for water. Some larger groups of villagers had set up road blocks and our convoy was forced to stop and explain that we didn’t have water, only equipment to purify water and we were only heading to the source of the problem. The villagers reluctantly let us pass and we pressed on. People were constantly trying to flag us down and pointing to sick friends and relatives. One group forced us to stop and had a girl seriously close to death. The PIH staff quickly started her on an IV and placed her in their vehicle. Her mother, clutching another baby, explained that her husband had died yesterday and asked us to save her daughter; Cate and the PIH staff did save her. We arrived at the place where many of the patients had originated from, a small dusty community called Babou La Port. The Operation Blessing team immediately went into action setting up our water purification system. The key to the unit is that it filters and chlorinates, which ensures that any bacteria or diseases are killed in the water. As we worked the PIH team asked the community to split into two groups, those who felt ok and those who felt sick. The huge group of people began to split with sick villagers of all ages congregating under the shade of some large trees. The medical staff placed IV’s in some critical patients. One of them, a boy named Frantz, was bought to us by his grandmother. He was weak and vomiting. His grandmother was frail and could only point to the river when we asked her how long Frantz had been ill. The unfortunate reality in this part of the world is that diarrhea is a common and frequent problem. But a villager with Cholera might lay down upon feeling ill expecting to get better as they often do, and be dead within hours. Convoys of trucks plastered with the posters of various presidential candidates paraded on the dirt roads in the area. Many of the candidates saw this as an opportunity to campaign. They were tossing out small plastic bags of water to the desperate crowds, there were fights for the water and one man was crushed under one of their trucks in the scuffle. Our filtration unit fired up and word spread quickly that there was water available. Soon a sea of multi colored buckets surrounded us. Villagers were appearing from every direction desperate to get drinking water. The tap stand was quickly surrounded and water flowed. There were no cheers and little laughter; most of the villagers there were stunned, afraid and weak. They were just relieved to have access to water. Every so often a villager would thank us in a gentle voice. The system kept pumping clean water and night began to set in. I asked our Haitian staff if any of them would be willing to stay with the system overnight and keep it operating. It was a daunting challenge, to stay awake surrounded by deadly disease and desperate villagers but the staff stepped up to the challenge. Tonight there are OB Haiti staff members operating the water system giving life saving water to thousands and thousands of people in the midst of a horrific epidemic. Confident that the system was in good hands we set back to St Marc. Back at the hospital in St Marc not much had changed, other than the death toll. As I write this the confirmed death toll is 135 and rising with thousands more infected. Tonight there were still patients being carried into the hospital close to death. Now however the cries of the mothers are louder and there were even more people at the gates desperate to hear news of their loved ones. The hospital is struggling to cope with such a sudden influx of patients especially considering that it is still recuperating from the January earthquake. The last time I saw anything like this was a cholera outbreak in Bihar India in 2007. Now Cholera seems to have flared in Haiti to compound the misery of the earthquake and floods. The scenes I saw at St Marc reminded me of Port Au Prince after the earthquake: patients lying in the streets, doctors struggling to cope, mass hysteria and fatigue. This morning at the hospital my friend Dr Koji from Partners in Health shook my hand and said “Let’s stop this”. The only way to stop a disease like Cholera is to stop people from getting contaminated, primarily through unclean water. Thanks to Operation Blessing the hardest hit areas now have access to safe water and thanks to Partners in Health, treatment is available for those who are already sick. Together we are doing all we can to “Stop This” and we can only do it thanks to your support. Thank you. ---------------------------- http://www.aerdo.net/blog/?p=516 Operation Blessing Intl. Operation Blessing International has mobilized hdqtr staff to Port au Prince who will be arriving on Thursday, Jan 14th, to assist in assessment and emergency response. Our in-country director is safe though his house was destroyed. We have not yet been able to reach our Haiti HIV/AIDS grants director, Jean Marc Zamor. OBI’s director of international disaster relief, David Darg, will arrive on Thursday. For more information, visit www.ob.org. Contact info is deborah.bensen@ob.org, 757-226-3440 from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless

notes: http://www.aerdo.net/blog/?p=516 Operation Blessing Intl. Operation Blessing International has mobilized hdqtr staff to Port au Prince who will be arriving on Thursday, Jan 14th, to assist in assessment and emergency response. Our in-country director is safe though his house was destroyed. We have not yet been able to reach our Haiti HIV/AIDS grants director, Jean Marc Zamor. OBI’s director of international disaster relief, David Darg, will arrive on Thursday. For more information, visit www.ob.org. Contact info is deborah.bensen@ob.org, 757-226-3440 from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless -> 10/22/10: Update from Operation Blessing on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti Bill Horan, Haiti Country Director for Operation Blessing, forwarded the below account just after midnight by OB staffer David Darg. Operation Blessing is one of Partners in Health’s most generous and reliable partners. “When we need something done, we call Operation Blessing,” as my husband Jim says. We woke to some disturbing news today. Our friends at Partners in Health emailed to say that there were people arriving at St. Marc hospital in droves, sick with diarrhea and that people were dying from dehydration at an alarming rate. The question was clear, could Operation Blessing mobilize to provide clean water to an area suspected of having Haiti’s first major cholera outbreak in decades. Our staff immediately began loading our trucks with equipment and supplies, just two days ago we responded to emergency flooding near Leogane so the drill was fresh in our minds. During the 2 hour drive to St. Marc the details began to emerge of what was unfolding in the region. Email traffic on my phone was showing the death toll climbing steadily while there was still speculation as to what was causing the sickness. Many of us suspected Cholera but some of our Haitian staff had heard rumors on the radio that villagers had been made sick through contaminated sea food. There was definitely an air of nervous tension amongst the staff. We arrived at St Marc hospital to a horror scene. I had to fight my way though the gate as a huge crowd of worried relatives stood outside while others were screaming for access as they carried dying relatives into the compound. The inside of the courtyard was lined with patients hooked up to IV drips. It had just rained and there were people lying on soggy sheets on the ground half soaked with rain, half soaked with feces. Children were screaming and writhing in agony, others were motionless with their eyes rolled into the back of their heads as doctors and nursing staff searched desperately for a vein to give them an IV. The hospital was overwhelmed, caught suddenly by one of the fastest killers there is, Cholera (still to be confirmed). Our friend, Cate Oswald, from Partners In Health came out from one of the triage tents clutching a hand drawn map. It showed the local river and had the names of a few communities where the patients had been coming from. Cate and some PIH staff loaded into a vehicle and led us into the countryside to find the source of the epidemic. Soon we were heading down narrow dirt roads with rice paddies and canals on either side. The crisis had actually started yesterday but had only really come to light last night when doctors realized it was getting serious. By then the villagers had heard of the deaths and word spread quickly not to drink water from the river. Most people had stopped drinking the river water and had gone thirsty for hours. The roads were lined with villagers holding buckets, begging for water. Some larger groups of villagers had set up road blocks and our convoy was forced to stop and explain that we didn’t have water, only equipment to purify water and we were only heading to the source of the problem. The villagers reluctantly let us pass and we pressed on. People were constantly trying to flag us down and pointing to sick friends and relatives. One group forced us to stop and had a girl seriously close to death. The PIH staff quickly started her on an IV and placed her in their vehicle. Her mother, clutching another baby, explained that her husband had died yesterday and asked us to save her daughter; Cate and the PIH staff did save her. We arrived at the place where many of the patients had originated from, a small dusty community called Babou La Port. The Operation Blessing team immediately went into action setting up our water purification system. The key to the unit is that it filters and chlorinates, which ensures that any bacteria or diseases are killed in the water. As we worked the PIH team asked the community to split into two groups, those who felt ok and those who felt sick. The huge group of people began to split with sick villagers of all ages congregating under the shade of some large trees. The medical staff placed IV’s in some critical patients. One of them, a boy named Frantz, was bought to us by his grandmother. He was weak and vomiting. His grandmother was frail and could only point to the river when we asked her how long Frantz had been ill. The unfortunate reality in this part of the world is that diarrhea is a common and frequent problem. But a villager with Cholera might lay down upon feeling ill expecting to get better as they often do, and be dead within hours. Convoys of trucks plastered with the posters of various presidential candidates paraded on the dirt roads in the area. Many of the candidates saw this as an opportunity to campaign. They were tossing out small plastic bags of water to the desperate crowds, there were fights for the water and one man was crushed under one of their trucks in the scuffle. Our filtration unit fired up and word spread quickly that there was water available. Soon a sea of multi colored buckets surrounded us. Villagers were appearing from every direction desperate to get drinking water. The tap stand was quickly surrounded and water flowed. There were no cheers and little laughter; most of the villagers there were stunned, afraid and weak. They were just relieved to have access to water. Every so often a villager would thank us in a gentle voice. The system kept pumping clean water and night began to set in. I asked our Haitian staff if any of them would be willing to stay with the system overnight and keep it operating. It was a daunting challenge, to stay awake surrounded by deadly disease and desperate villagers but the staff stepped up to the challenge. Tonight there are OB Haiti staff members operating the water system giving life saving water to thousands and thousands of people in the midst of a horrific epidemic. Confident that the system was in good hands we set back to St Marc. Back at the hospital in St Marc not much had changed, other than the death toll. As I write this the confirmed death toll is 135 and rising with thousands more infected. Tonight there were still patients being carried into the hospital close to death. Now however the cries of the mothers are louder and there were even more people at the gates desperate to hear news of their loved ones. The hospital is struggling to cope with such a sudden influx of patients especially considering that it is still recuperating from the January earthquake. The last time I saw anything like this was a cholera outbreak in Bihar India in 2007. Now Cholera seems to have flared in Haiti to compound the misery of the earthquake and floods. The scenes I saw at St Marc reminded me of Port Au Prince after the earthquake: patients lying in the streets, doctors struggling to cope, mass hysteria and fatigue. This morning at the hospital my friend Dr Koji from Partners in Health shook my hand and said “Let’s stop this”. The only way to stop a disease like Cholera is to stop people from getting contaminated, primarily through unclean water. Thanks to Operation Blessing the hardest hit areas now have access to safe water and thanks to Partners in Health, treatment is available for those who are already sick. Together we are doing all we can to “Stop This” and we can only do it thanks to your support. Thank you. ---------------------------- http://www.aerdo.net/blog/?p=516 Operation Blessing Intl. Operation Blessing International has mobilized hdqtr staff to Port au Prince who will be arriving on Thursday, Jan 14th, to assist in assessment and emergency response. Our in-country director is safe though his house was destroyed. We have not yet been able to reach our Haiti HIV/AIDS grants director, Jean Marc Zamor. OBI’s director of international disaster relief, David Darg, will arrive on Thursday. For more information, visit www.ob.org. Contact info is deborah.bensen@ob.org, 757-226-3440 from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless

facility_type: Info/Hotline -> Supply POD

name: Operation Blessing International (2010 Haiti Earthquake Response) -> Operation Blessing International (2010 Haiti Earthquake Response) - (DIST: FOOD/WATER)

notes: from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless -> http://www.aerdo.net/blog/?p=516 Operation Blessing Intl. Operation Blessing International has mobilized hdqtr staff to Port au Prince who will be arriving on Thursday, Jan 14th, to assist in assessment and emergency response. Our in-country director is safe though his house was destroyed. We have not yet been able to reach our Haiti HIV/AIDS grants director, Jean Marc Zamor. OBI’s director of international disaster relief, David Darg, will arrive on Thursday. For more information, visit www.ob.org. Contact info is deborah.bensen@ob.org, 757-226-3440 from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless
client_contact_name: -> Director of international disaster relief, David Darg (per Deborah)
client_contact_phone: -> 757-226-3440
client_contact_email: -> deborah.bensen@ob.org

region: Caribbean -> Haiti, Caribbean

mgt_contact changed.
mgt_phone changed.
cat_notes: 1/13/10 LTel 2:06 pm PST: Emailed Mary Morton/Nourish America with contact info for in-kind donations. Operation Blessing: Left messages on in-kind donations line & main number to determine what specific types of in-kind donations they are seeking and if they are recruiting any new volunteers for Haiti. -> 1/14/10 LTel: Amy Hammond - 757-226-3405 direct line / amy.hammond@ob.org Spoke to Amy Hammond in 'Hunger Strike Procurement' Dept. She provided the following information: LARGE CORPORATE IN-KIND DONATIONS NEEDED: BLANKETS MEDICAL SUPPLIES NON PERISHABLE FOODS (ie. GRAINS/RICE/BEANS/CANNED) They have FOUR Warehouses in: OCALA, FL TN 907 Live Oak Drive, Chesapeake, VA MIRA LOMA, CA They have many trucks capable of picking up donations, but will also accept shipped supplies. Point of Contact to arrange for shipment/pickup of large in-kind donations is through Amy Hammond. ------------------------------ 1/13/10 LTel 2:06 pm PST: Emailed Mary Morton/Nourish America with contact info for in-kind donations. Operation Blessing: Left messages on in-kind donations line & main number to determine what specific types of in-kind donations they are seeking and if they are recruiting any new volunteers for Haiti.

cat_notes: 1/13/10 LTel: Emailed Mary Morton/Nourish America with contact info for in-kind donations. -> 1/13/10 LTel 2:06 pm PST: Emailed Mary Morton/Nourish America with contact info for in-kind donations. Operation Blessing: Left messages on in-kind donations line & main number to determine what specific types of in-kind donations they are seeking and if they are recruiting any new volunteers for Haiti.

make_payable_to: -> Operation Blessing International

notes: from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless -> from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is headquartered in Virginia, USA, and provides on-going humanitarian relief on a daily basis in 22 countries around the world. Since 1978, OBI has reached more than 202.7 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states providing hunger relief, medical aid, disaster relief, fresh water, orphan care and more. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless

cat_notes: -> 1/13/10 LTel: Emailed Mary Morton/Nourish America with contact info for in-kind donations.

parish: Haiti ->
name: Operation Blessing International -> Operation Blessing International (2010 Haiti Earthquake Response)
organization: -> Faith-Based, Non-Profit, Disaster Relief/Humanitarian
areas_served: -> Haiti

notes: from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. -> from website: OBI teams are en route to the quake zone in Haiti to assess damage and strategize relief efforts. Help Haiti’s victims now with a donation of $25 or more. ----------------- Donations - https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?4020.donation=form1&df_id=4020 --------------- Calling Us Operation Blessing's main number: 757-226-3401 For media inquiries or materials call 757-226-3440 To make a charitable donation to Operation Blessing via the telephone call toll free 1-800-730-2537 To volunteer with Operation Blessing, please contact OBI's volunteer coordinator at 757-226-3407 To donate excess products through our "Gifts-In-Kind" program please call 1-800-436-6348. =========== Twitter - Facebook http://www.facebook.com/notes/operation-blessing-international/haiti-quake-victims-need-your-help/271593778948 http://twitter.com/operationbless