What We Do

We urge all friends of Haiti donate as much as they can to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. Your donations will go directly to grassroots organizations in Haiti that are saving lives by helping people on the ground access water, food and shelter, and reconstructing their lives. Unlike the big NGOs, many of which were accused of profiteering from the billions donated by a generous public after the earthquake, HERF pays no wages and takes no cut. Volunteers do all the work, and all the money we collect goes directly to those who need it, starting with women – the primary caregivers in every community.

Here are just a few examples of what your generous contributions have supported in the last few weeks:

* The Aristide Foundation For Democracy has organized mobile health clinics for those impacted by the hurricane and the expanding cholera epidemic and has helped send “Caravans of Dignity and Solidarity” into Les Cayes and smaller towns in the Southern Department, as well as Jeremie and the Grand’Anse Department. In those areas, Haitian grassroots activists have distributed food, water, water purification kits, hygiene and sanitation kits, roofing and building supplies.  They have also set up mobile health clinics, treating injuries, and helping the population grapple with the massive flare-up of the cholera epidemic.  These teams have been first responders in these areas – providing the very first assistance that many of these communities have seen.

* Women’s Agricultural Cooperatives and a network of Women’s Organizations in the Les Cayes-Aquin area have distributed food, drinking water, and water purification tablets, tarps and supplies for emergency roof repairs.  They have also organized numerous work teams to clear local roads, which have been made impassable due to the hurricane.

* Radio Timoun, based within the Aristide Foundation, and other local independent radio stations that have received support from the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, have provided consistent and needed information throughout the crisis, including giving the poorest communities in Haiti needed updates about where and when to access solidarity brigades that have come to their areas with supplies and food.

* HERF-supported schools and women’s organizations in the Port-au-Prince area have organized support campaigns and caravans to the hardest hit sections of Les Cayes, Camp-Perrin, St. Louis du Sud, and rural areas of Grand’Anse.

* One of the major effects of the hurricane has been to wipe out food production in the Southern peninsula.  This has led to famine in that area. Your funds have helped provide local activists in Les Cayes with the ability to feed hot meals to 500 children several days per week.  This project is designed to last through mid-November.

This is but a short list of the work that you are supporting.  In essence, you are supporting the work of the democratic movement in Haiti, which is determined to aid Haitians assisting Haitians in the spirit of solidarity and dignity. We are responding to their call and their lead.

Please Donate Online or Send Checks to: 

Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
P. O. BOX 4670
Berkeley, CA 94704

All donations are tax-deductible.
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, tax ID# 94-3249753
Tel: +510-595-4650

We Thank You!

Haiti Emergency Relief Fund Board of Directors 

Walter Riley, Attorney at Law, Co-Chair
Sister Maureen Duignan, O.S.F., Co-Chair
Seth Donnelly, Educator and Long-Time Haiti Solidarity Activist
Nia Imara, Astronomer and Artist
Pierre Labossiere, Co-Founder, Haiti Action Committee
Marilyn Langlois, Human Rights and Community Advocate
Robert Roth, Educator and Co-Founder, Haiti Action Committee