Our staff is working intimately – hour by hour, day by day – with Mikhuna foodbank directors to coordinate urgent purchases and ensure you’re donations are used for items of greatest need. Within 48 hours after tragedy stuck, Mikhuna arranged for your first donations to be delivered for Canoa disaster relief efforts. Your gifts and generous item donations filled Mikhuna’s first airlift relief effort headed to Manabí in the Jama-Canoa-Cabuyal sector. Two more emergency airlifts are planned this week and will be heading to remote areas in Esmeraldas and Manabí that have received little to no organized aid.
Through your generous support, you’ve raised $10,000 disaster relief and helped us distribute over $5,000 these past three days in urgently needed items. Because of you, Hearts of Gold has already contributed:
1,500 Bottles and 200 Gallons of Water
30 packages of Gauze, Sterilized Cotton and Band-aids
15 bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide
75 packages of Batteries
300 Candles
26 Lanterns
225 packages of Matches
155 Industrial Gloves
100 Rubber Boots
16 bottles Cooking Oil
10 packages of Bed Nets
30 packages of Woman’s Pads
36 packages of Wet Wipes
16 packages of 100 Diapers
15 boxes of Children’s Ibuprofen
18 bottles of Children’s Cold Syrup
15 boxes of Canned Baby Food
125 Canned Meats
35 Canned Vegetables
11 units of Bug Repellent
36 units of Sunscreen
18 boxes of Powdered milk
108 Non- disposable Plastic Cups
164 Non- disposable Plastic Bowels
89 Pedialyte Bottles
5,000 lbs of Lime Powder
We Still Need Your Help
The victims of the earthquake still need your help. Continued donations for water, canned food and personal care are vital. Water is needed for hydration, food preparations, hygiene and medical attention. Canned foods are essential because formal kitchens have yet to be established, and ready to eat foods are in high demand. Clothing donations, while accepted, are not an item of urgent need at this time.
Mikhuna will continue to create family-based survival kits to assist with the distribution of aid. Each kit is filled with a variety of food, hydration and personal care items that can serve a small family for 2-3 days. Family kits facilitate aid dispersal and removes logistical problems of managing and establishing aid kitchens at this stage of relief work.To donate items for relief efforts, please visit the Hearts of Gold office on Calle Canton Gualaceo or Mikhuna Food Bank at Turi. You can see the most up to date items list of items needed here.How to Make a Donation Please keep in mind that you can make a monetary donation:
Via PayPal.
Bank Wires – (best for immediate distribution of gift’s larger than $100):
Benificiary Account : Banco De Guayaquil Address: Pichincha 105 and P. Icaza City: Guayaquil Country: Ecuador Telephone: 59343730100 Swift Code: Guayeceg Beneficiary’s Account Number: 0022465961 Type of Account: checking account (corriente) Beneficiary’s Name: FOUNDATION HEARTS OF GOLD Foundation RUC # is :0190395251001
3.U.S. tax-deductible donation via CAF America, for gifts of $500 or more.
How to Volunteer
We encouraged those wanting to volunteer to lend a helping hand at Mikhuna Foodbank, located to the left of the church in Turi, to make these care kits and assist the unloading and organization of donations
If you are interested in taking your help to a more direct level, we encourage to you to fill out the government disaster relief volunteer form, which you can find online here, and to assist in volunteer efforts in your local area.Do to the current state of affairs, trained professionals are needed to assist with disaster relief. We recommend that volunteers do not head directly to the coast to help at this time. Travelling informally to the coast is unsafe, and having unskilled volunteers is an added burden to relief services. Coastal travel may also impedecaravan efforts to disaster sites.
We Are Committed to Help in the Long Term
Hearts of Gold will continue to coordinate with Mikhuna directors and MIES insiders to make sure your gifts will best serve our friends on the coast in dire need.
Stay up to date on the relief activities YOU MAKE POSSIBLE by visiting our Hearts of Gold Facebook page. You can follow all progress for relief efforts on the Mikhuna Food Bank Facebook Page. Keep updated on all program advancement and aid activities by signing up for the Hearts of Gold Mailing List. We encourage you to share this message with your network so that these communities can continue to receive the assistance that they need.
As the spotlight fades on emergency response efforts, Hearts of Gold is committed to assisting hard-struck communities in sustained disaster recovery. We will need your help and continued support to ensure our beloved compatriotas on the coast can rebuild lives of security, hope and dignity.
Please join us on our mission to raise an extra $40,000 to help with long-term relief efforts and the reconstruction of schools, safety and community by making a donation today.
This is a very difficult and emotional time for the country, and we are extremely grateful for you generosity and solidarity to help our friends in need. Because of people like you, we are able to provide emergency assistance, and assist in long-term development recovery.
Sincerely,
Natasha Verkley Executive Director Hearts of Gold Foundation
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