Governor Martin O'Malley Urges Marylanders to Support Haiti Relief Organizations

Press Release

MEMA to coordinate deployment of state, local resources if requested

Governor Martin O'Malley today encouraged Maryland residents who wish to help with the ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti to provide monetary donations to agencies that are or will be deploying to the area. The Governor has asked the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to coordinate the preparation of any state or local assets that may be requested.

"The devastation that we have seen from media reports in Haiti is unspeakable," the Governor said. "We have received calls and emails from many Marylanders looking for ways to help in the relief efforts. The best and most effective means of assistance we can provide is economic support to disaster relief agencies who are experienced with these types of operations."

Monetary donations are the best way to support relief activities in any disaster. The State Department is tasked with coordinating any United States response to a foreign disaster, and has established a link to a list of disaster relief agencies working in the area. The list also includes information on how to make donations to the agencies.

MEMA is reaching out to other state agencies, local emergency managers and volunteer agencies around Maryland to discuss what assets might be available if requested by the State Department. There also have been meetings with the Maryland National Guard to discuss transportation of people, supplies and equipment to Haiti, if requested.

Those wishing to donate clothing and other materials are asked not to do so unless a disaster response agency specifically requests such items. After many disasters, truckloads of such good often are discarded due to the difficulty of matching the donated items with an appropriate recipient; therefore monetary donations are strongly encouraged as they can be used to more effectively assist survivors.

Marylanders who wish to help should not deploy to any disaster area unless they belong to a disaster relief organization or an approved response agency and have been requested by the State Department, MEMA or a local emergency management office.

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