Hurricane Matthew slammed into the southwest coast of Haiti yesterday, packing 145-mph winds and destroying houses and other buildings, crops, roads, bridges.

Getting accurate information on conditions in Haiti is a challenge. But here’s what we know for sure—this struggling country has suffered another devastating blow, and its people need our help.

Immediately.

Please, help us respond to this humanitarian crisis and continue our life saving work around the world by rushing a generous gift to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) right now.

(Donations by check can be mailed to UUSC, PO Box 808, Newark, NJ 07101-0808. Please write “Refugee Crisis Fund” in the memo line to designate your gift to the UUSC-UUA joint fund.)

The United Nations has already called Matthew “the largest humanitarian event” in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake and warns that more than 4 million children are threatened by cholera and other waterborne diseases.

The tens of thousands of Haitians whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake and are still living in tents were especially vulnerable when the monster storm roared across the country—and they remain most vulnerable in the aftermath.

UUSC is working with our local partners to conduct an assessment of the greatest threats survivors face and put together an emergency crisis response. Meanwhile, we’re also working to strengthen our emergency response capacity—a capacity that can be a matter of life and death for the most marginalized and the most vulnerable.

We’ll focus especially on the “stateless” refugees deported from the Dominican Republic and stranded along that country’s border with Haiti, vulnerable families living in shelters, and other groups most likely to fall through the cracks of traditional rescue and relief efforts.

They’re counting on UUSC. And we’re counting on you.

Please send whatever you can, as soon as you can. The faster we act, the more lives we will save.

In the coming days, we will keep you updated on our work and the impact your gift is making. In the meantime, please keep the survivors in your thoughts.

Our deepest thanks,

Hon. Thomas H. Andrews
President and CEO