PWRDF pledges post-Isaac help for Haiti

The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) has pledged $25,000 for relief efforts in Haiti, where at least 24 people have died after tropical storm Isaac hit the Caribbean country on August 24.

PWRDF, the relief and development arm of the Anglican Church of Canada, is working with the Lutheran World Federation and other members of the Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance, to provide help for thousands who have lost homes, crops and other means of livelihood due to extensive flooding.  The World Health Organization has also reported new outbreaks of cholera in the in the aftermath of the storm.

PWRDF is not launching a special appeal for the victims of the storm, but Canadian Anglicans who wish to donate may do so by writing a cheque marked “For Haiti relief,” and mailing it to: PWRDF, 80 Hayden St., Toronto, ON, M4Y 3G2.

For more information on how to donate, contact Jennifer Brown,  PWRDF administrative associate, at 416-924-9192  ext. 355  or  at 1-866-308-7973.

Flood victims will be provided with hygiene kits, cholera medicine and prevention, as well as livelihood support.

Areas affected by the storm include those that are still recovering from the 2010 earthquake, said an ACT Alliance report. “Livelihoods in highly vulnerable rural areas have been lost, and the affected communities have limited capacity to recover without external support,” it added.

NBC News quoted a report from Haiti’s Civil Protection Office that most of the casualties were from the southeastern and western parts of the country. The death toll is likely to increase, it added.

Tropical storm Isaac has also caused severe flooding in New Orleans and other areas in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, in the United States.