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Sep 11, 2008 3:00 pm US/Eastern
Cuba & Haiti In Desperate Need Of Hurricane Aid
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Waves batter the Malecon waterfront in Havana, hours before the arrival of Hurricane Ike, on September 9, 2008.
Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images
South Floridians are no strangers to the devastation of a hurricane, and there are so many of us with family ties to Cuba and Haiti. With the recent storms ravaging both islands many want to help but are confused about how to do it. There is an agency based in Miami that has lots of experience sending much needed supplies to the islands, but they need your help to do it.
As Haitians walk through the rubble left behind by Hurricane Ike and Cubans tally the damage across their island, members of America's Relief Team in Miami are hard at work getting help to the region.
"We're raising funds to be able to buy the things needed in these areas and be able to distribute these things in these areas" said America's Relief Team member, Jessica Castro.
Founded five years ago, America's Relief Team works with relief groups already on the ground that know the needs of different countries.
"Haiti needs everything, absolutely everything. The people in Haiti are in tremendous need right now. It's as if a bomb would have fallen over Haiti , literally" said Teo Babun, Executive Director of America's Relief Team.
The need is also great in Cuba, but here politics gets in the way. The Cuban government controls most of the aid distribution so to get around that problem, America's Relief Team gives direct aid to the Protestant churches on the island.
"They can buy the materials that they need such as oil, rice and beans. They can make the care packages right there, and then they put them on their trucks, and then they go into the areas with the greatest need and begin distributions" said Babun.
If you'd like to make a donation that will directly help storm victims in Haiti and Cuba, give
Neighbors 4 Neighbors a call at
305-597-4404, or visit
www.neighbors4neighbors.org.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
