“Haiti Needs Your Help” Public Service Announcement Available for Broadcast and Web
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (January 22, 2010) — With an overwhelming number of individuals and organizations contacting Direct Relief International for ways to help support its medical response to the Haiti earthquake, the organization is making a public service announcement (PSA) available in English and Spanish language in a variety of formats for television, radio and online use.
The PSAs can be downloaded from http://www.DirectRelief.org/PressCenter/HaitiPSA.aspx.
For special format requests, please contact SurfMedia Communications, (805) 687-3322 or jm@surfmedia.com.
- 100% of funds donated to Direct Relief for Haiti will be used exclusively for programmatic activities related to Haiti. None of the funds donated for Haiti will be used to pay for fundraising or administrative expenses, or for programmatic activities in other places.
- Direct Relief is responding with shipments of medicines and medical supplies that are reaching local health partners to treat earthquake survivors.
- Direct Relief emergency response staff are on the ground in Haiti, providing expert logistics assistance to other relief organizations to coordinate delivery of medical and nutritional supplies.
- Direct Relief has been working with health partners in Haiti since 1964.
- Direct Relief has provided nearly $60 million (wholesale) in medical material assistance to Haiti since 2000, focusing on primary health care and basic medical supplies.
- Direct Relief’s response efforts are fast, involve local partners, and are coordinated with other international organizations and governmental authorities to ensure the most efficient use of resources. Direct Relief’s urgent priority is to assist people in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of this emergency, and will continue throughout the major longer term recovery anticipated.
An element of Direct Relief’s longstanding program model also involves the provision of medical materials, including medicines, equipment, surgical supplies, nutritionals, and other in-kind medical resources. A large percentage of these materials are donated by the manufacturers, many of which Direct Relief has worked with for decades.
As the sole nonprofit organization licensed as a wholesale pharmacy in all 50 U.S. states and approved by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as a Verified Accredited Wholesale Distributor, Direct Relief must comply with stringent requirements in the U.S. and internationally. Direct Relief only accepts material that is suitable, and only provides it when it is appropriate for the circumstances and requested by a qualified partner organization that will use them. In accounting for and describing any medical material contributions, the wholesale financial value is used.
About Direct Relief International
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief is a Santa Barbara, California-based nonprofit organization focused on improving quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief has provided more than $1 billion in privately funded humanitarian aid since 2000, including more than $150 million in assistance in the United States. It has earned a fundraising efficiency score of 99 percent or better from Forbes for the past eight years, and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California’s largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org.
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