SEATTLE, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, In response to the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12th, World Vision is working with corporations throughout the United States to assess current needs and devise both short-term and long-term responses to assist children and families in the hardest hit communities.

World Vision, which has worked in Haiti for three decades, has some 370 staff on the ground and has begun an immediate response to help serve the roughly 3 million people in the heavily impacted Port-au-Prince region.  In anticipation of disasters, World Vision already had relief supplies in Haiti and will begin distributing them as quickly as possible.  However, more supplies will be desperately needed and the organization plans to purchase them immediately, most likely in south Florida or the Dominican Republic.

Therefore, World Vision is requesting cash donations from corporations and/or the formation of co-branded fundraising campaigns with employees, customers, and other partners.  Such donations or campaigns will help purchase large quantities of additional relief supplies.  These goods will stock emergency kits, which will include items such as personal hygiene products, kitchen sets, and water purification tablets.  Emergency kits are designed to serve families of five and cost $100 each.

Corporations can join World Vision's Haiti Relief Response by calling 1-800-642-1616.

Widespread damage – including destruction of roads, hospitals, schools, government buildings, and United Nations headquarters – are making relief efforts extraordinarily difficult.  As World Vision assessment teams continue their work in the coming days and weeks, solicitations for specific products will be made by the organization.

World Vision works in five regions (north, south, west, northwest, and center) of Haiti through 20 area development programs serving more than 300,000 children, with more than 52,000 sponsored children in FY2009.  With an average income of $520 a year, Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and among the poorest in the world.

About World Vision

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.  We serve all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.  For more information, visit http://www.worldvision.org/press.

SOURCE World Vision

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