Children's Industries Donate $6 Million in Product to K.I.D.S. for Haiti; Experience and Local Partnerships Help Expedite Relief Efforts

NEW YORK, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since the first news reports of the Haiti earthquake tragedy, Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc. (K.I.D.S.) has been working to get donations of NEW underwear, clothes, water, vitamin bars, blankets, diapers and other supplies for distribution in Haiti.  The response has been very generous – as of January 22, more than 65 donor companies have provided or pledged close to $6 million worth of product (see list below).  K.I.D.S. continues to work with retailers and manufacturers for donations of desperately needed new products, and for the long-term response that will be required to help the children and families of Haiti.

"For 25 years, K.I.D.S. has been helping children and families recover from disasters with generous support from manufacturers and retailers of children's products," said K.I.D.S. President Janice Weinman.  "We were born out of a response by the children's industries to humanitarian crises in Africa.  More recently we helped the survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Indian Ocean tsunami, so our experience has served us well in Haiti."

Kids in Distressed Situations has worked in Haiti through various partners since 1995, maintaining a constant presence in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau region, providing apparel, shoes, and books to vulnerable children.  K.I.D.S.' main partner on the ground in Haiti for this relief effort is Operation Compassion, which has run a program helping Haiti's poor for at least the last 10 years and is very well established locally.  K.I.D.S. is also working together with Fashion Delivers, which solicits donations from the adult product industries to provide clothing, bedding, underwear and other products to families in Haiti.

On January 21, 1,300 women were brought to a warehouse compound for distribution of donated products.  They were all told ahead of time how much food, water, clothes, etc. they were going to be given and, upon actually receiving the product, many of the women fell on the ground, crying in gratitude.  The women were then escorted by security forces back to the area where they are sleeping in groups.  This is typical of the distribution process in all of the areas where K.I.D.S. product is going.

"For agencies that did not already have product distribution programs in Haiti, the confusion and delay seen in the news is accurate.  For them, there is a lack of coordination, manpower and warehouse space," said Weinman.  "Due to Operation Compassion's long presence in Haiti, they are working through an established system that was not damaged by the earthquake. Besides distributing the donated product, they are also feeding people, with 50,000 hot meals given out yesterday around the country."  

Recently donated high-priority items are successfully moving into Haiti; on January 19, a FedEx plane carried some of these items from K.I.D.S. donors.  Larger shipments are moving through Cap Haiten in the north and the Dominican Republic to the east.  The first ship-to point in Haiti for K.I.D.S.' donated product is a secure 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse outside Port Au Prince that was undamaged by the earthquake and aftershocks.  On the ground, Operation Compassion routinely works with 100 schools, dozens of orphanages and dozens of smaller warehouse facilities to distribute products in a timely and manageable manner.  

K.I.D.S. takes donations of ONLY new products, using industry contacts to get what the Haitian people will need most in the coming weeks and months as they rebuild.  Products that are needed for immediate relief efforts include clothes, socks, underwear and blankets.  Companies with NEW product to donate can use the online form at K.I.D.S.' Web site or call 1-800-266-3314 for assistance.  Click Here to Donate Product Online

K.I.D.S. is accepting cash donations to help defray the costs to distribute the donated product today and in the months to come.  For every $10 in cash, K.I.D.S. can deliver at least $100 of donated products.

Click Here to Donate Cash Online  

K.I.D.S. brings hope and self-esteem to more than 4.5 million children and their families each year by providing new clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books and juvenile products donated by manufacturers and retailers.  The donations are distributed through a network of nearly 1,000 local community social service agencies in the U.S. and abroad.  Our efforts reach children who are challenged by poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, low literacy, military family service, major illness, incarcerated family members and disaster survival.  More information about donating new products and supporting our work is available online at http://www.KIDSdonations.org

K.I.D.S. Haiti Product Donors, as of January 22, 2010

(Additional donor company names will be added as donations are processed.)

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Janice Weinman

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SOURCE Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc.