Today, the World Alliance of YMCAs together with the Latin American and Caribbean Alliance of YMCAs (LACA) is launching an international appeal for the YMCA movement in support of the earthquake victims in Haiti.

The Haitian people are suffering a crisis of a magnitude that no one can understand.
On the night of the earthquake, gwenael Apollon, General Secretary of the YMCA Haiti reported that he, his family and staff had survived YMCA, YMCA but that transactions had been severely impacted.

The global movement of YMCA is responding with a coordinated effort to address the immediate needs of children, families and communities devastated in Port au Prince and surrounding areas, providing immediate financial support to meet urgent basic needs of the affected people. Working in collaboration with the Red Cross, Action Churches Together and other agencies and emergency aid, the YMCA is providing food, water, medicine, blankets and other basic necessities.

An assessment team from the YMCA along with volunteers from the YMCA of the Dominican Republic and other countries are planning to travel to Haiti in the coming hours to assess the situation and deliver critical supplies to support people affected. They will also contact the YMCA Haiti, with whom communication has been very difficult in recent days due to telecommunications systems in the country have damaged solids.

Beyond these immediate efforts, the YMCA will also evaluate the long-term needs of affected communities to ensure the safety and stability of children, youth and families in Haiti.

The coordination of relief operations will be ensured by the sub-regional office of ALCACJ, based in the Dominican Republic, with the support of the World Alliance of YMCAs.

Through this letter, we urge you to do your best to support relief efforts for the earthquake victims in Haiti.

Please transfer your donation directly to the special account help YMCA in the Dominican Republic. The account details are as follows:

Banco Popular
Maximo Gomez Avenue and JFK avenue
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Account holder: Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes
Account number: 757457023
SWIFT: BPDODOSXXX
ABA CODE: 06711171.

News about the efforts of the YMCA will be provided as they become available. For more information, contact Alliance headquarters of Latin America and the Caribbean, in Sao Paulo, Brazil (secretariogeneral@lacaymca.org / 00-55-11-3257-5867) and the World Alliance of YMCAs in Geneva ( simon.pluess @ ymca.int / +41 22 849 51 00).

We ask your prayers for the YMCA and the people of Haiti.