AFS DOM Launches the “Haiti, Count on Us” Campaign
From AFSWiki
We would like to inform the AFS Network that we have been in touch will all the AFS hosted participants in the Dominican Republic to ensure that they are safe in the aftermath of the earthquake in our neighboring country of Haiti. We have been communicating directly with our Partners in the AFS Network who have participants hosted in the Dominican Republic regarding this ongoing situation and the measures that our staff and volunteers are taking to ensure their continuing safety right now and in the aftermath of this tragedy.
Because we share our island, we are very mindful of the potential impact that the aftermath of the earthquake could have upon our country, and we are also focused on the fact that we are uniquely positioned to help the victims in ways that those farther away and less connected may not be. To that end, we are asking for your support for a comprehensive, and hopefully viral, campaign that we are launching here in AFS DOM, to help the relief efforts In Haiti.
AFS in the Dominican Republic and our partner, the Fundacion Parque Cibernético de Santo Domingo have decided to act decisively to provide relief to our neighbors in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. We thank AFS INT for lending their technical assistance this weekend in helping us to develop the campaign, prepare for web-donations, and helping to craft some of the initial messaging.
We are calling on the great AFS worldwide family to respond to our call for aid. We are in a unique geographical and strategic position to channel your donations where they are needed most in Haiti, a scant few hundred kilometers from our office in our capital city of Santo Domingo.
AFS in the Dominican Republic has partnered in the past and will work with now in this relief effort with a Jesuit organization, Centro Fe y Cultura Roberto Bellarmino. They work with more than 14 schools and social services agencies in Haiti, and have been doing so for the last 15 years. They are uniquely positioned to make sure that 100% of your donations will be used to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people. Its leader, Father José Rafael Núñez Mármol, whom AFS President Tachi Cazal met on his recent visit here, has agreed to ensure that any funds collected through this effort will be delivered to those who need it most, in the short term, and, in the longer-term, used to rebuild and operate secondary schools.
You can donate right now by clicking on the correct link here: [1]
We shall be sending an e-mail to each Partner Director and Board Chair later today to provide more information about the campaign, and how you can help to make it a successful, viral campaign.
We ask you to go to [2] and make your donation now and invite others to do the same. Thank you for your support.
Olga Espaillat Chair of National Board
Pablo Viñas National Director
