American Red Cross
Wayne County Chapter

Kicking Off “March is Red Cross Month” With a Large Donation by a Wayne County Company

Media Contact: Melanie Barnas-Simmons
585-315-4718 (cell) or 595-241-4420 (office)
Simmonsm@grcarc.org

March 1 2010 - Palmyra, NY | On Monday, March 1st, members of the Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross will show their appreciation to employees of Garlock Sealing Technologies in Palmyra for their generous donation to the relief efforts in Haiti.
Media is welcome to join us at 2 p.m. at Garlock Sealing Technologies located at 1666 Division Street in Palmyra, NY.

On behalf of the employees of Garlock Sealing Technologies, The Garlock Contributions Committee recently presented a check for $693 to the Wayne County Chapter. That money was designated for the American Red Cross International Response Fund to help provide emergency needs in Haiti after the earthquake.

The Garlock Contributions Committee is a 7person team that organizes the company’s charitable donations. As part of their annual campaign, twice each month they hold Garlock Giving Days. It is an opportunity for employees to make personal donations to support the volunteer activities of other employees and/or charitable organizations.

On several occasions in the past, the company has held special Garlock Giving Day events to support catastrophic disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Cindy Marushak, Vice President of Human Resources, will accept the certificate on behalf of the employees at Garlock Sealing Technologies.

“Our donation to the American Red Cross for Haiti Relief was organized in just two days,” Marushak explains. “We are humbled by the generosity and quick response of Garlock’s Palmyra employees to help those in need around the world.”

Wayne County Red Cross Executive Director James Love has been overwhelmed by the community’s generosity.

“In a bad economy like this, it is amazing to see how much people have given to support the relief efforts in Haiti,” Love says. “Seeing the people suffer down there puts a lot of things in perspective and makes us appreciate all that we have to give.”

If you have not made your donation yet, log onto www.waynecountyredcross.org for more information.

The Red Cross has helped more than 1.3 million people since the January 12th earthquake, and we will continue to aid hundreds of thousands more in Haiti in the months ahead until the last donated dollar is spent.

Due to the many complexities of this disaster – and the extraordinary needs of the Haitian people – the emergency relief phase could last up to 12 months

The needs in Haiti are immense, and no single organization can help Haiti recover. Haiti was already one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, and it is clear that what took minutes to destroy will take many years and the collective support from governments and relief agencies around the world to repair.. We will work closely with other organizations to collaborate on and support long-term recovery projects.

Volunteers from around the world, including those from the American Red Cross, are actively distributing food and other supplies, like tarps, rope, hygiene kits, water containers and cooking items. So far, at least 1.3 million people have received these basic, yet life-sustaining items. Distributions continue regularly throughout urban settlements and in surrounding areas reaching approximately 12,000 people each day.

The Red Cross has delivered more than 25 million liters of safe drinking water in 110 different settlements since the earthquake. That translates to approximately 1.25 million liters per day – enough for 320,000 people. To address sanitation needs and prevent the spread of disease, the Red Cross and its partners have collectively set up 2,600 latrines to date.

More than 25,000 people or between 1,000 – 1,300 patients a day have been treated by Red Cross health care facilities and mobile teams. In partnership with the Haitian government and UN agencies, the Red Cross is helping to promote a vaccination campaign in Haiti to protect children under the age of 6 against measles and other infectious diseases. So far, nearly 27,000 children have been vaccinated. The first phase of the campaign will continue into March and aims to reach 250,000 children.

The Red Cross has the unique responsibility and expertise to help reconnect separated families in Haiti. Caseworkers are helping people register at the official family linking Web site, place phone calls to loved ones abroad and find family members scattered throughout different settlements in Port-au-Prince. So far, nearly 33,000 people have been assisted in this way. The American Red Cross is also supporting Haitian-Americans and others living in the United States who are looking for immediate relatives in Haiti.

All humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross, are racing against the clock to provide waterproof shelter to everyone who needs it before the rainy season begins in April. While this will likely take longer than we’d like, the Red Cross is already finding temporary solutions to support the Haitian government and address this complex situation.