Utahns step up to help Haitian earthquake victims

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By Carole MikitaSALT LAKE CITY -- The only good news to report from Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti is that help is on the way. Relief organizations and Utahns are responding.

Millions of Haitians now need everything: water, food, medical care, shelter and emotional support. All offices of the Red Cross in Utah have been flooded with calls that volunteers call a heartwarming response. Many are asking how they can help.

"No, we can't send untrained volunteers to Haiti right now, but we can take your dollars and we can put every penny of those dollars to really good use to get the supplies that are needed, to get the relief efforts underway. And we need those," says Susan Thomas, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross of Greater Salt Lake.

Expressing sympathy and prayers to the citizens of Haiti, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement saying it "is immediately shipping humanitarian relief, including personal hygiene kits and supplies for newborns."

Those supplies come from warehouses in the Dominican Republic. Church leaders are also coordinating more aid with government and disaster relief organizations. Donations for LDS relief efforts can be made HERE.

**Haiti relief efforts**

• [Salvation Army](http://www.satern.org) • [To make a donation to the LDS Church relief efforts](http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse) • [Healing Hands for Haiti](http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org) • [American Red Cross](http://www.redcross.org/) •[To make contact with loved ones in Haiti through the International Committee of the Red Cross](http://www.icrc.org/web/doc/siterfl0.nsf/htmlall/familylinks-haiti-eng?opendocument) •[The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod](http://www.lcms.org) •[Catholic Relief Services](http://www.crs.org) •[Islamic Relief USA](http://www.islamicreliefusa.org) •[United Methodist Committee on Relief](http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/)

The Church also says all missionaries are safe, and leaders are still contacting Church members in Haiti. Catholic Relief Services is committing an initial $5 million to the relief effort. Its office in Port-au-Prince was not damaged. Staff members are assessing the warehouses, and supplies will also come from the Dominican Republic and Miami.

The Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod in St. Louis is rushing tens of thousands of dollars of emergency aid, coordinating with partners on the ground in Haiti.

With all the donation opportunities out there, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection is issuing a word of caution: Donate carefully to organizations you know. Already, that office has sent a letter of warning to an unregistered charity soliciting funds for Haiti.

E-mail: cmikita@ksl.com