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August 17, 2021
Earthquake

Our Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal

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Our Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal

World Jewish Relief, supported by the UK’s leading Jewish communal agencies, has launched an emergency appeal in response to the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday, devastating much of the country.

More than 1,900 people have been confirmed dead, 10,000 injured, and these numbers continue to rise. Schools and hospitals have been destroyed, roads and bridges collapsed, and lives and livelihoods lost in an instant. The country is also being hit by tropical storm Grace, which is wreaking further havoc.

Haiti is still recovering from a huge earthquake in 2010 and a hurricane in 2016, and this disaster will have dire humanitarian consequences for Haitians. As the British Jewish community’s international disaster response agency, we responded then, and we will respond now to help those most in need.

World Jewish Relief’s trusted local partner Haiti Survie is on the ground assessing the extent of the damage and beginning to deliver critical assistance. With support from the British Jewish community, we will work with Haiti Survie to target support to the hardest hit areas.

We will provide emergency food packages, clean safe drinking water, and temporary shelters to those in dire need. Longer-term, we will support families directly impacted by the earthquake to rebuild their lives and livelihoods in the wake of this disaster.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis says:

World Jewish Relief has an outstanding track record of working with partners in Haiti, paving the way for their response to the current tragic humanitarian crisis. I urge everyone who is able, to support the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

Rabbi Charley Baginsky, CEO of Liberal Judaism, also voiced her support for the appeal:

Jewish tradition reminds us time and time again that when others are suffering we cannot sit at home and pretend it is not happening. World Jewish Relief has this value at its core and it is incumbent on us to support their campaign to assist the people of Haiti following another earthquake. We can offer our prayers, but for those that can, this is a chance to help World Jewish Relief be there to offer care and healing and perhaps most importantly empower Haitians to rebuild in a safer and better way

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Masort Judaism, says:

Over a thousand people have been killed in the earthquake in Haiti. There are warnings of storms to come. Rescue workers describe conditions as dire. How can we not help? The Torah forbids us to stand idly by. I am grateful to World Jewish Relief for leading our community’s response.

Our Chief Executive Paul Anticoni says:

In a race against time, World Jewish Relief’s Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal will enable us and our local partner to rapidly provide food, hygiene materials and shelter to those whose lives have been shattered by this catastrophe. I am proud of our community showing its compassion for those affected by yet another disaster to hit Haiti. Thank you.

The appeal is supported by the Office of the Chief Rabbi, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, JW3, the United Synagogue, Masorti Judaism, Liberal Judaism, Reform Judaism, S&P Sephardi Community, the Union of Jewish Students, the London Jewish Forum and the Zionist Youth Council.