Here is a compiled list of other ways to help from CTV News.
Following is a list of links to Canadian organizations that have a track record of providing aid to Haiti:
The Canadian arm of the international aid and medical relief organization works around the world through the federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
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This well-known organization’s is to raise funds to support UNICEF’s work for children in more than 150 countries and territories and build awareness among Canadians about the issues facing the world’s children.
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- The Humanitarian Coalition
This group is a joint effort between Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Quebec, CARE Canada and Save the children. The humanitarian coalition is dedicated to a united response in cases of humanitarian crises.
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Plan works to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty based around eight core areas: education, health, water and sanitation, protection, economic security, child participation, sexual health including HIV.
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- Direct Relief International
This organization provides specifically requested medical resources to community-based organizations in 59 countries.
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This international organization focuses on emergency medical relief in areas where there is no medical infrastructure or where the existing one cannot withstand the pressure to which it is subjected.
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- United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto
This Jewish group is seeking donations and has already sent $45,000 to IsraAid: The Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, to support search and rescue efforts in Haiti. The group is sending a team that includes medical staff, to Haiti.
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This Christian organization is asking Canadians with Rogers and Bell cellphones to donate $5 or more by texting the word “haiti” to 45678. Donations can also be mailed or dropped off at local offices.
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World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization that works with children, families and communities around the world to deal with poverty and injustice.
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This independent, non-governmental social development organization works to unite families, shape futures and develop communities and has been doing so since 1949.
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This organization’s emergency relief programs provide assistance to victims of natural disaster, war, disease and famine, through provision of food, water and shelter.
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- The Mennonite Central Committee
MCC’s work in Haiti over the past years has focused on reforestation and environmental education, human rights and advocacy for food security. MCC is responding to the Haiti earthquake with emergency assistance and long term reconstruction and trauma support.
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- Mission Aviation Fellowship
Canadian branch of worldwide team of specialists, meeting the transportation andcommunications needs of overseas missions and relief and development organizations. They have a Canadian pilot in Haiti now.
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- Centre d’etude et de cooperation internationale (CISC)
CISC is a private, not-for-profit corporation that fights poverty around the world, and has operations based in Haiti. The group’s head quarters are based in Montreal.
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This Christian organization tackles hunger around the world, and has operations in Haiti, where it offers food and education to children.
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- United Nations World Food Programme
While not a Canadian organization, the UN WFP is a major international agency devoted to fighting hunger around the world, and is voluntarily funded. It’s currently mobilizing all available resources to Haiti.
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A COUNTRY DEVASTATED: The earthquake hit at a time when Haiti –devastated by hurricanes in 2008 and long plagued by poor governance, violence, and poverty — had seemingly turned a corner. With a U.N. peacekeeping mission, a new democratic government, and a growing economy, Haiti’s future appeared bright. Reuben Brigety and Natalie Ondiak of the Center for American Progress noted in a September report that Haiti was “currently experiencing one of the best combinations of open political space and physical security that the country has seen in decades.” Following the earthquake, U.N. Dispatch’s Mark Leon Goldberg lamented, “Haiti just can’t catch a break. For nearly five years, the small island nation has made slow but steady progress toward economic development and political stability. But it seems that just as the country is poised to turn a corner, an act of God, like yesterday’s devastating earthquake, sends Haiti reeling back. Preval called the death toll “unimaginable” and said he had no idea where he would sleep. The Miami Herald reported that “politicians and police struggled to keep the nation from descending into chaos.” To make matters worse, the headquarters of the U.N. mission, which had critically brought a semblance of order and stability to the country, was destroyed. Officials feared that many U.N. peacekeepers and employees are dead, including the head of the U.N. mission, who remains missing. This will likely be the deadliest tragedy in the agency’s history. Furthermore, aid groups in Haiti are not only “tallying their own casualties,” but those preparing to depart for the country are finding it exceptionally challenging to get on the ground as airports and ports have been damaged. But time is of the essence, as Alanna Shaikh of U.N. Dispatch, notes, because “Haitians now face a daunting set of health challenges, including typhoid, dengue fever, malaria, and getting treatment for serious injuries.
A SWIFT RESPONSE: The response from the United States, as well as the international community, has been swift. President Obama “moved quickly to send help to Haiti, pledging Wednesday that the Haitians and their devastated island nation would have the ‘unwavering support’ of the United States.” Politico’s Mike Allen reported that upon learning of the earthquake Tuesday night, the President convened his national security team “in the White House Situation Room at 10 p.m….with senior representatives from State, USAID, USUN, DOD, SOUTHCOM, JCS, DHS, Coast Guard and National Security and White House Staff to coordinate the government wide response, per the president’s request.” Obama explained, “Military overflights have assessed the damage, and by early afternoon our civilian disaster assistance teams are beginning to arrive.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has cut her trip to Asia short and is returning to Washington today to oversee the State Department’s response. Rajiv Shah, the new head of USAID, said the immediate goal of the relief effort over the next three days is to save lives. Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said an aircraft carrier equipped with helicopters vital for ferrying supplies to the island will arrive shortly along with an amphibious ship and an expeditionary unit of 2,000 Marines. The Coast Guard has also sent vessels to help with the effort. Additionally, “search and rescue squads from Miami and Virginia, and cell phone repair engineers are making their way to Haiti.” The Pentagon is reportedly mulling sending thousands of additional troops to help with the relief efforts and to maintain order. The Obama administration has also announced that it will temporarily halt the deportations of undocumented Haitians. But “there was no immediate indication that the federal government would grant Haitian nationals Temporary Protected Status.”
PRIORITIZING DISASTER RESPONSE: Disaster response must be a critical foreign policy priority. When massive disasters strike around the world, the international community looks increasingly to the U.S. for help. Over this past decade, USAID, as well as the military — particularly the Navy and the Marines — have embraced this role and have been increasingly quick to respond, as their logistical capabilities make them the only ones able to get to devastated areas. CAP’s Lawrence J. Korb and Max Bergmann wrote in 2008, that while some claim these missions are a “distraction” from “hard” security concerns, “engaging in these operations promotes U.S. interests. … [S]uch missions act to maintain precious stability…improve the image of the U.S…and help cast our global military posture in a better light.” Nancy Soderberg and Brian Katulis noted in their recent book that “the previous administration’s finest foreign policy moments were the responses to the disaster relief.” Following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, earthquakes in Pakistan, and cyclones in Bangladesh, the U.S. military was deployed to help. As the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen explained following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, “We literally built a city at sea for no other purpose than to serve the needs of other people.” This sort of response will be required in response to Haiti. However, there is more that the U.S. can do. Americans tend to believe that a vast amount of the federal budget is spent on foreign assistance when in reality less than 0.3 percent of the budget is spent on foreign aid. Haiti will need help not just over the next few weeks but over the coming months and years. With this in mind, a group of 14 senators have already requested additional spending for Haiti relief efforts and Obama has asked former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to help lead a bipartisan effort to get Haiti back on its feet.