Groups send aid to Haiti

A week after a devastating earthquake in Haiti killed countless people, aid from local Orange County groups, including churches in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, is starting to make its way to the island, organizers said.

Working with the larger organization Hope Force International, doctors working with OperationOC, a local disaster recovery group, are preparing to head to Haiti, said Ric Olsen, a member of OperationOC.

Olsen said local churches, including St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach and Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, are sending money to OperationOC that will go toward the group’s long-term plans to help rebuild the Caribbean nation.

“It looks like we’re going to be in this for the long haul in terms of our involvement,” Olsen said.

OperationOC just recently finished its post-Hurricane Katrina relief work in New Orleans, he said.

“This is different because the possibility of failure is far higher ... if there’s no water, there’s no water. If there’s no food, there’s no food. You can’t just drive an hour away like after Katrina and it’ll be like nothing happened.”

According to the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council, local organizations are finding ways to help in Haiti. The local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has shipped humanitarian relief like personal hygiene kits and supplies for newborns. And every cent donated for Haiti will be used to help, church organizers said.

The Christ Church by the Sea United Methodist in Newport Beach had a special collection with 100% of the money going to the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Harbor Christian Church in Newport Beach also had a special offering Sunday with the money being sent to Church World Service.

Costa Mesa’s First United Methodist Church is one of several in the local Methodist church district putting together health kits to be sent to Haiti, said Jim de Boom of the interfaith council.

According to de Boom, Catholic Relief Services committed $5 million to emergency supplies in Haiti, Islamic Relief USA flew a $1 million shipment of aid to the island, and the Jewish Federations of North America has created a Haiti Relief page for online donations.

Officials with the American Red Cross of Orange County, and Orange County representatives on the California Task Force 5, an urban search-and-rescue team that canceled a planned mission to Haiti, according to news reports, did not return phone calls.

For more information on how to help victims of the Haitian earthquake, go to OperationOC’s website at www.rescuemission.org/opoc or call (714) 247-4362.