July 9, 2010 Wilmington, DE- Monday, July 12, 2010, will mark the six month anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Six months after the earthquake, Haiti is filled with signs of hope and progress as well as reminders of the immense needs that still remain. The Red Cross provided emergency shelter, food, water, latrines, medical treatment and other supplies – and it is also investing in longer-term projects such as building shelters and improving water and sanitation systems.

The Red Cross continues to provide clean drinking water, latrines, medical treatment, emergency shelter supplies and other services on a large scale. For example, at least one third of all the tarps distributed so far in Haiti for emergency shelter have been supplied by the Red Cross, and about a quarter of a million people are getting water and sanitation services each day from the Red Cross.

The American Red Cross is reaching hundreds of thousands of Haitians with medical services and community-based health and hygiene education. The Red Cross also invested in other health-related activities, such as the distribution of mosquito nets and a vaccination campaign in which more than 900,000 people were inoculated against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, and Rubella.

Hurricane season is a big concern, and the American Red Cross is investing more than $7 million for disaster preparedness for vulnerable people living under tarps or tents. They are pre-positioning emergency supplies such as tarps, tents and blankets for 125,000 people in 10 cities around Haiti and in our regional warehouse in Panama. The Red Cross is also running disaster preparedness programs in over a dozen camps and will eventually train more than half a million camp residents in 150 camps around Port-au-Prince in emergency first aid, safe evacuation procedures and early warning systems.

The crisis in Haiti is not over and the recovery process will be long and difficult. The American Red Cross will support earthquake survivors in many ways in the months and years to come, and will be in Haiti until the last donated dollar is spent. Haiti and its people must rebuild their homes, economy, water systems, schools and transportation networks. With an estimated $12 billion needed to rebuild Haiti, the needs are beyond the capacity of the Red Cross alone to fix, and will require the collective efforts of governments and humanitarian groups around the world. The American Red Cross continues to add staff in Haiti, and now has 117 staff members, including 100 Haitians dedicated to earthquake recovery efforts.

For more information, please visit www.redcross.org