MEDIA ADVISORY

Catholic Charities Accepting Donations for Victims of Haitian Earthquake

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, is responding to victims of the massive earthquake in Haiti. The quake occurred 10 miles southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on January 12 just before 5pm EST, also Haitian local time. Port-au-Prince, with a population of over 2 million, has been devastated.

CRS has made an initial commitment of $5 million for immediate use in the relief effort and is preparing for a major emergency response to this severe disaster. CRS is currently mobilizing food, gearing up its emergency capacity, and deploying prepositioned emergency shelter and hygiene kits in Haiti, as well as bringing supplies in from the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Catholic Charities of Louisville is accepting monetary donations to assist with this emergency and has sent an alert to the 111 parishes in the 24 counties of the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Those who wish to contribute should send a check or money order to:

Catholic Charities of Louisville
Haitian Earthquake
2911 South Fourth Street
Louisville, KY 40208

Please note Haitian Earthquake in the memo line of the check or money order.  All donations listed as "Haitian Earthquake" will be forwarded in full to Catholic Relief Services.

Individuals also may make donations directly to Catholic Relief Services at www.crs.org or by sending a check to Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, Maryland 21203-7090.

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Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. CRS alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries without regard to race, religion or nationality.

Catholic Charities of Louisville Inc., a member of Catholic Charities USA and an apostolate of the Archdiocese of Louisville, provides services for people in need, advocates for justice in social structures and calls the entire Church and others of good will to do the same.