As traumatized residents wandered through the ruins of Port-au-Prince after an earthquake devastated the region on Jan. 12, support for relief efforts was already pouring into Presbyterian World Service and Development.
Two days after the quake, the church’s relief agency sent an initial $50,000 for immediate efforts as the Action by Churches Together Alliance, a partner organization, coordinated work on the ground in the Caribbean nation.
On Jan. 14, the Canadian government announced it would match individuals’ donations for Haiti up to a maximum of $50 million, for a combined total of $100 million.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the western half of the Caribbean island, destroying between 60 and 80 per cent of houses in Haiti’s densely populated capital city and killing as many as 50,000, according to early estimates.
For more information about PWS&D relief efforts, see Presbyterian.ca/pwsd.
