The American Red Cross, Mile High Chapter is helping the relief efforts in Haití

By Eva Tejada



Watching all the events unfolding in Haiti after the devastating earthquake occurred on January 12th, we all have confusing feelings. We can reflect on the fragility of life, and also on the compassion that we as humans feel when we see those images of tears, grief and desperation. The number of lives lost is impressive, and the number of broken families – orphan kids, husbands and wives who lost their kids or each other- are even greater. But the worse thing of all is all those survivors and their current basic needs, those things that we don’t even realize we have: water, food, a bed to sleep in, a roof over our head. Living here sometimes makes us forget that those things that are part of out everyday life, might be totally absent in situations like that developing in Haiti.

After considering that, the next question is: What can I do? How can I help? How can people that live in Colorado can help? There are numerous specialized institutions and other entities that are fundraising and doing everything they can to motivate people to donate and help this cause. El Comercio de Colorado contacted the American Red Cross and interviewed Patricia Demchack, Marketing & Communications Manager of the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter, and she helped us figure out how the Red Cross works, how involved the Mile High Chapter is, and how can we help in this situation. This is what she told us:



“Here at the Mile High Chapter, we have paid staff and a volunteer list of about 1,700 people, many who are trained in disaster relief. We are not currently sending any volunteers or employees to Haiti. This is because there are already 400 worldwide Red Cross workers from around the world in Haiti, along with the thousands of local volunteers. This relief effort is expected to last for an extended period of time, so we may eventually be asked to send some Colorado volunteers who are already trained in international disaster relief.”



When we asked her about the local efforts of the Red Cross, she answered:

“Mile High Red Cross workers have been extremely busy supporting the American Red Cross effort by assisting in fundraising and communications efforts. Our Fund Development staff has been ...