Haiti Relief Fund Established. Food Deliveries Begin | Hurricane Matthew, Update 3
A letter from Joe Knittig, CEO of The Global Orphan Project
GO Family,
Mike, Jake, and I are at the airport en route to Haiti. My hope is to keep you updated as things unfold, and as we’re able. We value transparency and your willingness to walk through this situation with us. Thank you for your prayers and resources.
Taking off from yesterday’s updates…
The most urgent situation we face involves the children at La Hatte and Cassamajor. Those locations are cut off due to flooding. There is no way to gain access to them on the ground. La Hatte, in particular, is in a tight spot because the pump to their water well isn’t working.
We were able to schedule a helicopter flight this morning. GO Haiti President, Lucson, went with the pilot, and they are currently traveling to drop food and water at La Hatte and, fuel permitting, Cassamajor. This should provide time needed for flood waters to recede to move these children to higher ground. The flight today is an important first step to secure and support the La Hatte and Cassamajor children.
We’re extremely fortunate to have secured this helicopter, as demand is obviously high.
Lucson Dervilus, GO Haiti President, and team preparing to deliver food and water to La Hatte and Cassamajor by helicopter.
El Shaddai’s Cambry campus is serving as a relief center for children from several villages. There are a total of 450 children + caregivers there. They currently have food and water, but the supply is expected to last only days with this many people onsite. They are our next highest priority. We have an airplane (and maybe two) scheduled for tomorrow to shuttle food, water, and supplies. We are hopeful this plan to stock the relief center will meet the needs of many. El Shaddai will have a doctor there to tend to any medical needs.
We are also optimistic that a road to Cayes will soon be opened, so that our trucks can bring relief in greater bulk. Depending on route feasibility, our GO Haiti team is attempting to drive an initial load today.
More to come…
*** Update 5:30 p.m., October 6
We received the following updates from our team on the ground. GO Haiti President Dervilus Lucson has safely returned from the helicopter distribution. He was able to confirm the safety of the children at both La Hatte and Cassamajor. The helicopter was unable to land or drop supplies at La Hatte; however, it was able to land at Cassamajor. Lucson also spoke with Pastor Renaud and his wife at Cassamajor. Pastor Renaud indicated that La Hatte could be accessed by motorcycle, so food and water are being delivered there.
Not exactly how we planned, but the distribution was successful.
How You Can Help
We will have relief and redevelopment needs that will cost several hundred thousand dollars. Of that we are certain. The exact needs and redevelopment plans will continue to unfold in the coming days.
So many of you have asked how you can help financially. Thank you!
We have opened a Haiti Relief Fund. For checks, please designate the gift as “Haiti Relief”. For online giving, please click here.
We back these gifts with our 100% Commitment: 100% of your donations will go to the relief effort aimed at these children. And we will provide the accountability that you deserve. We have a 4 out of 4 stars Charity Navigator rating, with the highest possible rating for financial accountability. We take this very seriously.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
We will keep you updated.
Yours,
Joe
PS: If you would like to learn more about the impacted sites, please visit their village page by clicking below:
