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Haiti Earthquake Facts, Donation and how you can help!

Haiti Fast facts – Haiti Earthquake • USGS: USGS called it the strongest earthquake since 1770 in what is now Haiti • The quake struck on January 12, 2010 at 4:53 p.m. • The 7.0 magnitude quake's epicenter hit just 10 miles west of Porte-au-Prince and its 2 million inhabitants • 3 million people in need of emergency aid after major earthquake • The major quake sent 33 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.2 to 5.9 • The Red Cross dispatched a relief team from Geneva and the UN's World Food Program is flying in two planes with emergency food aid. • The Inter-American Development Bank said it was immediately approving a $200,000 grant for emergency aid. • Some 9,000 peacekeepers have been in Haiti since 2004, including 1,266 Brazilians. • Haiti has no real construction standards. • November 2008: Following the collapse of a school in Petionville, the mayor of Port-au-Prince estimated about 60% of buildings were shoddily built and unsafe in normal circumstances. Fast facts - Haiti • Discovered by Columbus in 1492. • Haiti won its independence from France on January 1, 1804. • Population of nearly 10 million people. • Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. • 80% of the population in Haiti is living under the poverty line. • Most Haitians live on less than $2 a day. • More than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs. • Haiti is slightly smaller than Maryland. • The Haiti telecommunications infrastructure is among the least developed in Latin America and the Caribbean. • Haiti has 14 airports; 4 have paved runways. • Haiti’s capital is Porte-au-Prince, a coastal city with about 2 million inhabitants. • After decades of dictatorship, former Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990. • Aristide was ousted by a military coup in 1991 but reinstated with U.S. backing. • Aristide was forced out of the country and into exile in 2004 by a rebellion of gangs and former soldiers. • Democratic rule was restored in 2006. • Haiti has been led by President Rene Preval since May 2006 when the country returned to constitutional rule. • Haiti is one of the original members of the United Nations and several of its specialized and related agencies, as well as a member of the Organization of American States (OAS). • In July 2004, $1.085 billion was pledged through 2006 at the World Bank Donors' Conference. Donors included the U.S., Canada, the EU, France, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Greece, Norway, Mexico, and Ireland.  FOXNEWS

Celebrity telethon to raise money for Haiti efforts: (CNN) -- In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, George Clooney and other celebrities have signed on for a telethon to aid the devastated island nation. The Oscar-winning actor will take part in a fundraising program to air commercial-free across several networks, MTV announced. "Hope for Haiti Now" will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT on Friday, January 22. MTV said Clooney will serve as a host in Los Angeles, while musician Wyclef Jean will be in New York, and CNN's Anderson Cooper will appear from Haiti. the two-hour event will feature as-yet-unnamed musical performances and celebrity appearances, as well as live news reports from CNN. It's Hollywood's latest philanthropic gesture in reaction to the catastrophic situation in Haiti. A celebrity lounge at this weekend's Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills has been turned into a Haitian aid fundraiser. Medecins sans Frontieres says actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to the group's emergency medical operation as it responds to the disaster.

Full coverage of the earthquake in Haiti

Tuesday's 7.0 earthquake has devastated the poverty-stricken country's infrastructure. Haitian President Rene Preval said Wednesday that he had heard estimates of up to 50,000 dead but that it was too early to know for sure. Damage has closed the port and limited airport operations in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and the quake buckled many roads, making it extremely difficult for aid groups to bring in emergency supplies and search for survivors in the rubble. MTV said all proceeds from the telethon will be split evenly among seven relief organizations currently operating in Haiti: Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF and Yele Haiti Foundation and World Food Programme.  CNN

Red Cross officials ask for cash donations for Haiti relief:

Ten days after Haiti was struck by a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, supplies are flooding into the devastated area around the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince. Many supplies are being sent in by countries that officials on the ground can not distribute the supplies fast enough to the local populace. However, that does not mean that people should stop making donations. Brad Schleppi of the American Red Cross said that more is needed to make significant improvements to the devastated country.  “Food water and shelter are all necessities that the Haitian people need the most,” Schleppi said. People in the Muncie area are encouraged to make any kind of donation that they can but monetary donations are sought after the most. “The money allows us to buy the goods and supplies needed for this relief effort not only in the affected area but also geographically in locations that are closer to the affected area,” Schleppi said.  Donations can be sent to the Muncie Red Cross Shelter in Downtown Muncie or via the Web at www.redcrossindy.org.

Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help:

UPDATE: Now that a week has gone by since the devastating earthquake in Haiti and aid is finally reaching those who need it, more groups and nonprofits have mobilized to continue to raise money for recovery as relief efforts continue.

If there are organizations missing from this list, feel free to notify us at impact@huffingtonpost.com.

Our list below is still the most comprehensive resource of organizations helping in Haiti. This update contains several new groups and fundraisers that make it easy to give:

•Music For Relief is offering a compilation of unreleased music, available for free download on MusicForRelief.org. The site encourages donations, which will be divided equally among the United Nations Foundation, Habitat For Humanity, and Dave Matthews Band's BAMA Works Haitian relief program.

•National Nurses United already has 10,000 nurses volunteering to go to Haiti, but they need to raise money to send them there. Every dollar donated to NNU will be spent directly on sending a professional nurse to Haiti.

•Artists For Peace and Justice is a relatively new organization with an advisory board of prominent celebrity activists, including Maria Bello, Madeleine Stowe, Charlize Theron, Oliver Stone and Josh Brolin. Founded by filmmaker Paul Haggis, the group originally sought to help build functional schools in impoverished regions in Haiti. Since the earthquake, they've directed all of their funds to recovery efforts, with a focus on helping to rebuild schools, hospitals and orphanages.

•K.I.D.S., or Kids In Distressed Situations, is delivering clothes, diapers, and water and is asking for cash donations as well as product gifts. To inquire about necessary items you can give, contact K.I.D.S. president Janice Weinman at 212-279-5493 x207.

•Healing The Children has firm commitments from numerous pediatric hospitals throughout the U.S. to provide medical care for over 50 children injured in the Haiti earthquake. They will organize and navigate the medical system for the children and provide a host family to offer the children the love and security they need during their treatment. Donate online. (LINK to NEWS)

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