'Not On Our Watch' Donates $1 Million to Haiti Efforts

Foundation's George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Jerry Weintraub, and David Pressman, dispatch emergency Funds for earthquake victims.

Image from Haiti courtesy: notonourwatchproject.org

(NEW YORK) - In the wake of Tuesdayʼs devastating earthquake in Haiti, Not On Our Watch, the international advocacy and grantmaking organization founded by actors George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, producer Jerry Weintraub, and human rights lawyer David Pressman, has directed $1 million (USD) in emergency response funds to provide medical services for victims of the disaster.

The beneficiary of the grant, Partners In Health (PIH), presently has relief efforts underway providing emergency medical care for the wounded, and is addressing the critical shortage of hospitals and care centers destroyed during the disaster.

The founders of Not On Our Watch released the following statement: “The people of Haiti are in desperate need of help. Our organization, Not On Our Watch, will do whatever it can and we know the international community will as well."

Partners In Health (PIH) has been working in Haiti for over 25 years, with over 100 doctors, an additional 600 medical personnel, and over 2,000 community health workers, serving a population of more than 1 million people in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite.

With this base and infrastructure, PIH has undertaken a two-tier approach to its earthquake response efforts, which both addresses the critical needs of the injured and makes use of the absorptive capacity of existing health systems at its 10 rural clinics.

Doctors are working at a UN field hospital and the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, while staff transfer necessary medical supplies from PIH clinics to these sites and others in need. Additionally, PIH is transporting patients to the PIH clinics outside of Port-au-Prince, where more extensive care is available.

PIH staff in Boston and Haiti are focused on coordinating emergency response efforts, including a team of 30 volunteer surgeons, and have said that the most urgent needs are financial contributions and medical supplies.

Source: notonourwatchproject.org