August 2, 2013

UFCW Members Remain Committed to Rebuilding Haiti

On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, causing catastrophic damage in and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince. In total, the earthquake affected more than 3.5 million people, killing 220,000, injuring 300,000 and destroying or badly damaging 293,383 homes.  As a result of the earthquake, 1.5 million Haitians became homeless almost overnight.

Since that time, UFCW local unions from around the country have remained committed to helping the people of Haiti rebuild their communities. The UFCW Charity Foundation distributed more than $450,000 to bring food, water and technology to Haitian children and their families and partnered with several local foundations to provide earthquake relief.  The foundations include Reviving Haiti, which funds clean water access to Haitian families; Hope for Haiti and High Hopes for Haiti, which are working to build computer labs and libraries at St. Francois de Sales school and James Stine College; and God to Haiti, which provides hot meals for children and families.

A great deal of work remains to be done in Haiti—a country of origin for many UFCW members—and the UFCW remains committed to helping our Haitian brothers and sisters recover from this tragedy .