Floods and high winds impacted ministry partners and left many poor families in need of aid
Immediately after Hurricane Earl swept across Belize on August 4, our staff mobilized to help, working with our in-country parish partners to target aid to those in greatest need. Our mission team flew to key areas and reported flooded streets, ruined houses, major power shortages, and damage to some of our partners’ critical facilities. By God’s grace, no lives have been lost, but the impact in some areas is severe, impacting the poor in profound and tragic ways.
Fortunately, Cross Catholic Outreach was able to secure 15 pallets of food and 19 Medical Packs for immediate distribution to hurricane survivors, and that outreach is already underway. The medical supplies represent 5,700 treatments and include key items parishes find particularly useful in times like these, including oral rehydration salts, Aspirin to bring down fever, the antibiotic Amoxicillin, and Cephalexin to treat infections.
These supplies are urgently needed by families who have lost all their possessions in the storm and lack access to a hospital or clinic to treat hurricane-related injuries and other medical emergencies. We are also connecting with our local mission partners to assess damages and determine a plan to help them recover, so they can continue to provide crucial services to the needy in their communities.
Your prayers are crucial as our staff continues to monitor the unfolding crisis and explore how we can most effectively aid the ongoing relief effort. As always, a gift Cross Catholic Outreach’s Fund for Greatest Needs can help us in this important work because it gives us the freedom to respond immediately as needs arise. If you have contributed to our Fund for Greatest Need, thank you!
Our Promise to You – Proceeds will go directly to the most urgent projects of the need you have selected. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fund a particular project in any given category, the excess fund will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
And if you would like to make a contribution toward that purpose, click here.