BAPS Charities makes donation of $47,000 to UNICEF for Haiti Earthquake Relief F

und
The start of a fantastic partnership, one that will help save the lives of thous
ands of children around the world. BAPS Charities donated $47,000 to the United
Nations Children s Fund, UNICEF, launching the first-ever partnership between the
two NGOs.
March 19, 2010 -- Ed Lloyd, CFO of UNICEF said, Every penny makes a difference.
This is what we do. We are in the business of helping children. Luckily, today
, we found an able and willing partner. This partnership shows what two giving
organizations can do to help children in need.
The volunteers of BAPS Charities - children, youth, and adults - came together t
o raise funds for those suffering in Haiti. Roshni Chavda, a six-year old girl,
was saving money in her piggybank for a new toy; however, after she heard about
the plight of the children in Haiti, she donated all that she had saved, to help
them rebuild their lives. I can t imagine living without cookies and juice. It m
ust be hard for them. Roshni donated enough money to buy 45 cartons of juice and
more than 60 packs of cookies!
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake with 33 recorded aftershocks rat
tled Haiti. It killed more than 200,000 people, displaced over a million, and af
fected as many as 3 million people. Since forty percent of the Haitian populatio
n is children aged 14 and under, a large majority of the people displaced as a r
esult of this earthquake is children. During the aftermath of this earthquake,
BAPS Charities partnered with UNICEF to provide aid and protection for children
who lost their family and friends. Together, they constructed over 400 camps for
the displaced individuals in the affected areas. These camps provide children w
ith education, protection, and health care services.
This earthquake, the worst in this region in 200 years, destroyed over 3,000 edu
cational facilities and caused grave damage to government buildings and hospital
s throughout the country. The efforts of BAPS Charities and UNICEF have brought
clean water to individuals living in remote areas, improved sanitation condition
s to prevent the spread of disease, and provided baby tents, a safe place for moth
ers to breastfeed.
Ms. Hilde Johnson, UNICEF s Deputy Executive Director, recently visited Haiti to s
urvey and gauge the progress of the relief efforts undertaken by the global comm
unity. Learning spaces like this give children who have been through a terrible
experience a chance to get back to normality, allowing them to resume learning a
ctivities as well as to play and have fun, said Ms. Johnson in a UNICEF press rel
ease.
Working with UNICEF has been a great experience, said Anand Mehta, Director, BAPS
Charities. These two organizations worked in unison and quickly mobilized to prov
ide the Haitian children with immediate relief and long term rehabilitation.
BAPS Charities is known for its excellence in providing disaster relief services
and on-going humanitarian care for children. In 2001, after the Gujarat earthqu
ake, its volunteers reached Kutch within minutes of the first quake. They helped
rescue individuals buried in the rubble, regularly fed hot meals to victims and
volunteers, provided minute necessities like nail cutters, and rebuilt schools,
homes, and communities. During Hurricane Katrina and Ike, to help people surviv
e this catastrophe, BAPS Charities volunteers again served hot meals, provided p
eople with clothing, and offered counseling. The natural calamity in Haiti has
again provided an opportunity for BAPS Charities to engage tens of thousands of
its volunteers to work alongside UNICEF to make a difference in our world.
About BAPS Charities
BAPS Charities is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit international charity organiz
ation committed to sincerely serving the world by caring for individuals, famili
es, and communities. It is affiliated with BAPS as an independent charity and so
cial services arm. The 55,000 BAPS volunteers networked in over 3,300 centers ar
ound the world provide over 12 million volunteer-hours of service annually.
Among social service charities, BAPS Charities is a well-respected and trusted n
ame. It has amassed over 50 years of firsthand experience in initiating, managin
g, and sustaining 160 humanitarian operations throughout the world in such diver
se fields as: medical services, environmental services, community services, trib
al services, and disaster relief services.
For additional information on BAPS Charities and its international and local phi
lanthropic activities, please visit www.bapscharities.org
Contact:
BAPS Charities
BAPS North American Headquarters
732-777-1414 ex 140
media@na.baps.org
http://www.bapscharities.org
Charities, communities, social services, organizations