IRC: Haiti Donations Urgently Needed

As news of Haiti's devastation pours in, the scale of destruction from Tuesday's earthquake is truly horrifying. Port-au-Prince, the capital city and home to more than two million people, lies in ruins.

Latest reports cite between 45,000 and 50,000 people killed and as many as three million people injured or made homeless. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake was the most powerful quake to hit the impoverished country in more than 200 years.

Right now, the International Rescue Committee has deployed its Emergency Response team to help earthquake survivors. Our first priority is to rush medical, water and sanitation support to local relief groups in Haiti, who are overwhelmed by the scale of this catastrophe.

The poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is especially unprepared to cope with a disaster of this proportion. The next few days will be critical, as we seek to help hundreds of thousands of displaced families.

The tragic stories out of Haiti have brought the crisis into the public consciousness, onto computer screens and into living rooms around the world.

The IRC is immensely grateful for the staggering outpouring of support and interest from all of you. We want to thank everyone who has called, faxed, e-mailed and written for the incredible generosity of spirit and for the many offers to volunteer in Haiti to help out with the emergency relief effort. We applaud you.

The IRC has more than 75 years of expertise in emergency response. Our specialists are veteran first-responders who have quickly set up effective emergency programs around the world during violent conflicts and natural disasters, ranging from the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar to the South Asian tsunami in 2004.

Our thoughts and wishes are with the Haitian people struggling desperately to cope in the midst of this tragedy.

The IRC takes enormous pride in the effectiveness of work, as well as the efficiency with which we do it. 90 cents of every dollar we spend goes directly to help people fleeing conflict or natural disaster

Your support is urgently needed to help us rescue lives in Haiti. Please donate now.The IRC is now anticipating a $5 million response and relief operations over the course of 12 months.

If you'd like to do more than simply make a donation toward our work in Haiti, please consider:

* Fundraising among your friends, family and community. You can get started and set up your own personalized donation portal here.

* Spread the word on Facebook. Many IRC supporters are posting the following message as their Facebook status to spread the word about IRC's text-to-give campaign for Haiti: "I am donating my status update to rescue lives in Haiti. Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to help the International Rescue Committee rescue lives. COPY & PASS THIS ON AS YOUR STATUS UPDATE."

* Get the word out about our text-to-give campaign on Twitter and keep updated as we get news from our team in Haiti on our Twitter page.