Oxfam International: “The UN has described the Haiti earthquake as the worst humanitarian disaster in decades. After initial logistical challenges aid is now getting in. Each day Oxfam is able to reach more people.

We are now getting aid through despite immense challenges. Oxfam is working across seven sites supplying clean water, safe sanitation and temporary shelter to 92,000 people. Fifty tons of aid is to be flown in from the UK. However we still need your support to ensure aid reaches 3 million people in desperate need.

Our staff in Haiti are currently providing shovels and picks for local civil workers to clear rubble to search for trapped victims in Port-au-Prince, but the destruction continues to severely hamper aid efforts.

We have flown in 10 tons of water, sanitation, health and shelter equipment and have begun distribution, with 50 tons more on the way. Our staff of approximately 200 people in Haiti, including highly-experienced emergency specialists is supporting rescue efforts, assessing the damage, and responding with public health, water, and sanitation services to prevent the spread of waterborne disease.

Additional emergency specialists have been dispatched from the United States, United Kingdom, and Mexico, and we’re preparing to send additional stocks. Materials that will be sent include plastic sheeting and equipment for water distribution, purification and storage.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 85% of the population living in poverty. Oxfam’s emergency response team for Latin America is based in Haiti, so we’re prepared with a public health, and water and sanitation team in Port-au-Prince, and are responding. We also have access to emergency supplies in Panama should they be required.

Oxfam has long experience in Haiti, and we’re rushing in teams from around the region to respond where our assistance is most needed.”

–Above text taken from the Oxfam International website, click here for more from Oxfam.

Thank you for your help.

For over 100 years, the Treasure Valley Family YMCA has been providing young people with lasting memories in their resident camping programs in Valley County. Amidst the beauty of nature, Y Camp has always promoted the YMCA’s core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.

The Y has now entered into an exciting new era with the opening of YMCA Camp: Horsethief Reservoir this past summer! Only occasionally in the past 50 years has a new Y Camp been built in the United States, and this rare opportunity to create one in the mountains of Idaho is something everyone in our region can be proud of.

Operating Y Camp is a costly venture, and the Boise Co-op wants to help the YMCA continue to provide this incredible opportunity to families in our area. So, on November 10, we will donate 4% of our net sales for the entire day to this program. Please mark you calendar and plan to shop your socks off that day!