NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Miami Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker is asking the public to donate nonperishable items at drop-off locations in North Miami to help Haitian earthquake survivors in need.
Baker, 24, and North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime are asking the public to respond to one of the city’s two dropoff locations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, at 700 NE 124 St., or 776 NE 125 St.
“My heart is just breaking,” Baker said “Some of the things you need, you take for granted, they all need that stuff.”
Related story: How to help earthquake victims in Haiti
Survivors of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on Aug. 14 are still experiencing aftershocks in Haiti’s southern peninsula. The frequency decreases over time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Aug. 14 earthquake killed more than 2,200 people, disappeared more than 340, injured about 12,270, and destroyed or damaged nearly 130,000 homes, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Sunday report.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, including 65 search-and-rescue personnel and four canines, deployed to Haiti on Aug. 15. Tropical Depression Grace made landfall on Aug. 16.
“It was heartbreaking. It was really sad to see we are going through this again,” said Linda Julien, a Miami Gardens councilwoman referring to the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that killed an estimated 200,000 because it hit a more populated area in Port-au-Prince.
Julien was helping to pack aid packages at the warehouse of the Global Empowerment Mission, a Doral-based nonprofit organization with a group of partners that include USA 4 Vets, Goya Foods, Walmart, and Amazon.
Most hospitals are operating without power. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization, started sending generators on Thursday in a charter flight, according to Michael Kahane, AHF’s southern bureau chief.
The security concerns are affecting doctors in Port-au-Prince. Last week, criminals kidnapped Dr. Workens Alexandre, an orthopedic surgeon, who was treating injured survivors at the Bernard Mevs Hospital, The Associated Press reported. Prime Minister Ariel Henry was the former head of neurosurgery at Bernard Mevs Hospital.
A USAID disaster assistance response team determined the tragedy exacerbated vulnerabilities to sexual exploitation and abuse, as many continue to shelter outdoors, often carrying out hygiene and other activities without privacy or security.
Grand’Anse department’s Pestel commune and Sud department’s Les Anglais and Maniche communes still need help with food, safe drinking water, and shelter materials.
USAID also determined Les Anglais needs health care services and medical commodities, the main bridge into Grand’Anse’s Jérémie city is damaged.
Grand’Anse’s Dame Marie commune, where a section of the Catholic church was unsafe, Sud’s Les Cayes commune, and Ouest Department’s Gonave Island also needed aid.
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