Avon Donates $1 million to Haiti Relief
Efforts
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"The generous and immediate response to the
devastation in Haiti is a testament to the compassion in our
world. With the Haitian people experiencing suffering on an
incomprehensible scale, we must all continue our support. I am
proud to join Avon in their efforts to mobilize resources to
respond to this tragedy. We encourage everyone to do what they
can to help address the critical needs of all those in Haiti who
have survived this disaster."
Reese Witherspoon
Avon Global Ambassador |
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Avon Products Inc. announced an initial $1 million donation to the Avon Foundation for Women to support relief efforts following the
devastating earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12. The Avon Foundation will
provide $500,000 of that donation to the American Red Cross
International Response Fund for Haitian Relief and the other
$500,000 to Doctors Without Borders for their life-saving work in
Haiti. Both organizations are deeply involved in the relief efforts
to address critical needs for water, food, shelter and medical help.
In the spirit of Avon philanthropy, which has donated more than $725
million around the world since 1955, Avon will supplement its $1
million donation in other ways to help accelerate the relief work.
Avon expects to raise an additional $1 million through the following
efforts:
- Avon North America will donate 50 cents from the purchase of all
full-size Avon Skin So Soft products (excluding deodorant) purchased
from Avon Brochures 4, 5 & 6 through March 14, 2010.
- Avon will enable customers and Representatives to conveniently
donate to relief efforts in Haiti by checking off a donation option
on the Avon order form, Or
click here to make an online donation.
- The Avon Foundation for Women will directly donate the Skin So Soft
purchase donations and contributions received on Avon order forms to
relief and recovery programs in Haiti.
- As part of its Matching Gift Program, the Avon Foundation for Women
is matching individual donations for relief efforts in Haiti by U.S.
Avon Products employees.
Relief Organizations Receiving Avon's Initial Donation
The relief organizations Avon is supporting are providing essential
services on the ground in Haiti.
American Red Cross International Response Fund - The American Red
Cross is working with its partners in the global Red Cross and Red
Crescent network, including the Haitian Red Cross, and other
partners to assist those affected by this disaster. Planes and
trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance have been arriving
in Haiti daily since the Jan. 12 earthquake, delivering much needed
materials such as a field hospital, medical supplies, tarps,
blankets, hygiene items, buckets, shelter supplies and kitchen sets.
Within the first week following the earthquake, the Red Cross
mobilized more than 500 tons of aid; more than 400 Red Cross
volunteers from around the world, along with thousands of local
volunteers - working out of 11 mobile posts and traveling through
neighborhood camps - are using that aid to treat wounded survivors.
The Red Cross estimates its supplies for temporary shelters will be
made available to an initial 20,000 families.
Doctors
Without Borders - Doctors Without Borders/ /Médecins Sans
Frontières has been working in Haiti since immediately after the
earthquake to save lives. In the first week, more than 700 Doctors
Without Borders staff members provided primary care to more than
3,000 earthquake survivors and operated on 400 people who were
suffering from crush injuries, open fractures, head injuries and
infected wounds. Many of the victims required partial amputations to
prevent death by gangrene. Doctors Without Borders is working out of
damaged hospitals in and around Port-au-Prince and is establishing
an inflatable hospital with operating theatres. They also are
running exploratory assessment missions to other locations outside
the capital in a search for additional space in which to treat
patients. Doctors Without Borders doctors working in Haiti compare
the conditions to those of a war zone. With financial support, the
organization has the capability to bring together the human
resources, logistics, and setup required to respond to this kind of
emergency in these sorts of conditions.
