COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – Many in South Florida have been looking for ways to help following Saturday’s catastrophic, deadly earthquake in Haiti.
Five containers of food and two trucks filled with medical supplies are already on the ground in some of the earthquake ravaged areas of Haiti thanks to Food for the Poor.
Bishop Oge Beauvoir is in Port-Au-Prince. He felt his own home shake on Saturday.
“Whenever there is a crisis, we are among the first to show up and help,” he said.
Now he’s on the ground, helping coordinate disaster relief efforts. It’s a mission that has been nonstop snice the initial deadly quake in 2010.
“Once again we count on you to help us, not only for the relief, but to help us with the affected, to rebuild their lives,” Beauvior said.
Many of those supplies are being dropped off at a Coconut Creek warehouse that is a receiving station for the organization that will ship more critical items this week.
But they need more, like canned goods of corn, beans, sardines, fruit, tuna or chicken, soup and other foods like cooking oil, rice, protein bars and Gatorade.
Baby items are just as essential. Diapers, wipes, baby food, blankets, gently used clothes and personal hygiene items, everything from soap and toilet tissue to gloves and feminine hygiene products.
Another organization, the Family Action Network Movement, said monetary donations are also critical.
They have a plan to get any funds directly to the affected people and to the impacted places.
“We do not want a repeat of 2010 where funds were collected, funds were diverted and 11 years later, the infrastructure has yet to be rebuilt and people are still suffering,” said Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM.
A group out of Doral ready to ship much needed supplies to Haiti is Global Empowerment Mission.
Michael Capponi is the organization’s President.
Capponi led rescue missions in response to Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010.
“I’ve been to Haiti 94 times since that earthquake,” he said.
This time Capponi is working with the Haitian consulate in Miami.
“Finding a way to reach the people and help them because right now the infrastructure is a problem,” said Stephanie Gilles with the Haitian Consulate in Miami. “So it’s getting to the people, getting them the medical support, getting them the food.”
ALSO SEE: How to help Haiti earthquake victims: List of organizations accepting donations