Chile Earthquake Response

As a Community Foundation, we work with our donors to achieve charitable goals within our local community. In certain cases however, we know it’s important to provide guidance to our donors on how to respond to a devastating disaster such as the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile.

The following philanthropic resources were compiled by the Council on Foundations. While this is not an exhaustive list of organizations providing relief, theses options have been vetted by our national council. (For up to the minute data, please visit the Council's Disaster Grantmaking page.)

We are local and global citizens, and as such, disasters like this unite us in our common humanity. Please feel free to contact our staff to discuss your philanthropic response to the crisis.

Resources Courtesy of the Council on Foundations:

An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 occurred in the early morning hours of February 27, 2010 off the Chilean coast. The epicenter was 201 miles southwest of the capital, Santiago, but just over 60 miles from Chile's second-largest city, Concepción.  The earthquake is one of the strongest on record, sending tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific and triggering aftershocks as powerful as 6.9.  Chile's president called the earthquake an "enormous catastrophe" as the number of reported dead rose to more than 700, a figure that is expected to rise.

Situational Information

• AlertNet: A humanitarian news network from the Reuters Foundation that provides detailed news updates on the extent of damage and ongoing humanitarian relief efforts.
  
• ReliefWeb: A project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This Web site serves as a clearing house for information related to the earthquakes and ongoing situational reports.
  
• The United Nations system, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is on standby to offer rapid assistance to the Chilean Government and people.
  

NGO Response

• AmeriCares is sending a rapid response team to help provide disaster relief in Chile. Medicines, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid are being readied for immediate shipment. Since 1989, AmeriCares has delivered over $16 million in medical and humanitarian donations to Chile.
  
  Doctors Without Borders/Médecins San Frontières (MSF) has sent the first members of an exploratory team and workers to Santiago in order to assess the needs of victims. MSF is already in contact with Chilean government authorities to coordinate the relief effort.
  
• Oxfam International sent a team of water engineers and logisticians from Colombia and senior humanitarian staff from its center in Mexico.
  
• The Red Cross made an initial $50,000 pledge from its International Response Fund.
  
• Salvation Army International emergency services were immediately mobilized to provide support and comfort in Chile. International financial assistance is already on the way from headquarters in London; The Salvation Army Chile Earthquake Emergency Relief Appeal has also been established.
  
  Save the Children is sending an emergency assessment team to Chile. 
  
  WorldVision immediately began distributing hundreds of blankets and some water containers to Santiago's earthquake survivors, preparing to start an extensive response in the hardest-hit areas south of the capital. World Vision flew a team of six relief and logistics experts from Santiago to Concepcion to assess the severity of the damage. The team will also open a second operations center in the south to coordinate with World Vision's relief teams in Santiago.