Rotary Partnerships with establihed NGO's

Greetings Tom,



Thanks for all your encouragement and assistance for the Haiti initiatives. I need to get information from the District Governor and add to this note. The purpose is to highlight those NGO’s that have Rotary involvement and a NY Rotarian presence.

Let me update this earlier note (below) and I will forward to you in the morning. Also, I need to get Giorgio’s input.



Cheers,

Natalie



Dear Fellow Rotarians,



This morning, the leading U.S. General in Haiti reports that it is a "reasonable assumption" that up to 200,000 people may have died in last Tuesday's earthquake. Lt Gen Ken Keen said the disaster was of "epic proportions", but it was "too early to know" the full human cost. Rescuers pulled more people alive from the rubble at the weekend, but at least 70,000 people have already had burials. Relief efforts are being slowed by bottlenecks, and many thousands of survivors are fending for themselves. (BBC News, January 18, 2010).



In response to the desperate situation, we have three Rotarian Teams including New York members now in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They deserve our support.



Helen Reisler received a report from Todd Shea on Sunday who reports, “ If things don’t start improving very rapidly, then life and limb-threatening infections and deadly dehydration and unnecessary conflict will likely emerge within the affected population on a scale that has the potential of becoming rampant and widespread, resulting in more death and injury that could still be avoided though time is fast running out”.



Our New York Rotary Teams include:



1. The Fraternite Notre Dame Team who urgently need funds for food and medicine.

2. The Global Giving Foundation led by Jim Kushner and five other Inwood Club members and Bill DeLong. They will be working with Todd Shea, Founder of the Comprehensive Disaster and Response Service. They are in desperate need for money and supplies, particularly antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medicines, pain medication and anti-bacterial ointment.

3. Carlos Bergantinos, who is traveling with local Rotarian doctors at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He has assisted in organizing a transport team to transport much needed antibiotics and tetanus shots to the border hospitals. Jet Blue is flying these supplies free of charge and Carlos is covering all local costs.



All of these colleagues deserve our urgent support. We encourage you to send the contributions directly to the New York Rotary Foundation so the total contributions can be tracked. Earmark the group for your specific contribution. This is extremely important so total contributions can be totaled and specific earmarked contributions tracked. Andreas will immediately forward your contribution to the specified group. If you wish to contribute, but not to a specific group, earmark, Haiti Disaster Relief.



Make the checks payable to the New York Rotary Foundation and earmark the specific group you wish to assist and send to:

The Rotary Club of New York

322 Eighth Avenue

Suite 701

New York, N.Y. 10024



Let us support Rotarians and save lives in Haiti.



With our appreciation,

David



David Wankoff

President

Rotary Club of New York City