Local Organizations Team Up For Haitian Relief

The United Way of Summit County and the Tri-County Regional Labor Council AFL-CIO are teaming up to get relief to the Haitian people in need of food, water and medical supplies.

United Way's Vice President of Marketing, Michael Gaffney, said "this is such an important fund raising effort for Haitian relief, it's such a major catastrophe that we wanted to be available for those folks who are looking for a way to help out."

The United Way will act as the fiscal agent, collecting the money and then sending 100% of it to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund and the Red Cross International Response Fund in equal shares.

When there is a need, Gaffney maintains, people dig deep. He compared this fund raising effort to the one that took place after the 9-11 attacks . Then, local folks gave over $1,000,000 to buy a fire truck for the New York City Fire Department. At the same time, the local United Way had it's largest campaign to date.

If you would like to give, you can send a check to United Way of Summit County, 90 N. Prospect Street, Akron, OH 44304 - Attn: Haitian Relief . You can also donate on-line using a credit card at uwsummit.org.

On the web: United Way of Summit County