Athletes Take Field for Haiti Relief

by James Parks, Jan 27, 2010

Members of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) are stepping up to raise money and promote awareness for the recovery effort in Haiti. You can take action now to help the Haitian survivors by clicking on the AFL-CIO Haitian Disaster Relief site here.

This week, the NFLPA is expected to announce the creation of the “ONE TEAM 4 HAITI” campaign, a partnership with the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, National Basketball Players Association, National Hockey League Players Association and Major League Baseball Players Association to focus on relief efforts in Haiti.

The “ONE TEAM 4 HAITI” campaign will promote relief efforts by airing public service announcements that feature professional athletes from all four major sports leagues.

Says NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith:

These athletes may come from different backgrounds and play different sports, but when disaster strikes, we respond as one team. The ultimate goal of this team is to do everything it can to make a true difference in the recovery efforts in Haiti.

To help those affected by the Haitian earthquake, you can text the word “TEAM” to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Last week, the NFLPA also contributed $500,000 to the American Red Cross to help with Haiti relief.

In other actions:

• Mari Cordes, one of the dozen nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians who are members of the AFT-affiliated Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (VFNHP), reports that her group is working in a large medical compound in Jimani, a border town near the Dominican Republic. She says at least 500 patients are being treated in what appears to be an old church mission. Members of the medical team work at Fletcher Allen Health Care, an alliance of the University of Vermont’s medical and nursing schools. More than 75 members of the VFNHP have volunteered to be part of the medical relief effort.
• Artist Ricardo Levins Morale, whose work depicts the lives of working people, has created an original new art print to benefit the Haiti relief effort. The  poster is sold signed. Half of the proceeds will go to Partners in Health for earthquake relief. Partners in Health is Haitian-led and provides direct assistance in Haitian communities without the costs of an administrative bureaucracy.  Click here to order the poster. 

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