How you can help Haiti relief efforts

As many as 1.5 million people have been left homeless by last Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti. If you—or you company—would like to donate services or supplies, a new message from the American Logistics Aid Network explains how the supply chain community can help.

By DC Velocity Staff

The following is an e-mail letter released today by John T. (Jock) Menzies III, president of the American Logistics Aid Network, concerning the relief efforts to help earthquake-ravaged Haiti. ALAN engages the supply chain community to support humanitarian relief efforts by making supply chain-related donation needs visible to the logistics industry and establishing an efficient process for providing the necessary goods and services through its web portal.

An open letter from ALAN

In the wake of Tuesday's tragic earthquake in Haiti, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is working to identify relief needs together with major humanitarian relief agencies.

As needs are identified that can be met through the expertise and resources of ALAN's member base, we will share them with association members and post them on our web portal: www.ALANaid.org. Presently, Haiti relief efforts are in a rescue and assessment stage. It will take several days for many of the needs to emerge, and others will surface in the weeks ahead.

We are hearing from ALAN associations and many of our supporters. Here are some thoughts on how you might help:

• Review current relief needs— Check our web portal and see if you can help find a match for a specific donation request. Visit the Relief Needs section on our homepage at www.ALANaid.org.
• Provide monetary relief—Cash in the hands of bona fide relief agencies is the most important contribution anyone can make at this time. Some sources for NGO information include:
• National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster;
• InterAction;
• The Clinton Foundation;
• Most of the major news media also have listings of NGOs active in Haiti.
• Reaffirm your interest in working with ALAN in its efforts to connect supply chain resources to relief—Send an e-mail to a member of our leadership team with current contact information and special skills or resources.
• Learn more about ALAN and how you can get involved—Check out the How to Help section on our web site.
• Commit to engage with a regional or national organization active in disaster before the next event—Major relief agencies only deploy people who know their processes and values. They usually cannot insert spontaneous volunteers into their organizations in the middle of a crisis. That said, ALAN has, and will again, receive requests for specific expertise.

Many thanks for your interest in ALAN and humanitarian relief.

Jock Menzies
President
American Logistics Aid Network

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