February 7, 2011, The Miami Herald - The Turkish Coalition of America gave a $50,000 grant Monday to Operation Helping Hands to combat the cholera epidemic in Haiti.
At an event hosted by the Florida Turkish American Association, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen praised both organizations for their efforts to provide vital assistance to the people of Haiti.
Last year, the coalition provided a grant of $25,000 to assist with Operation Helping Hands’ efforts to help the people of Haiti after the devastating earthquake.
Operation Helping Hands is a partnership between United Way of Miami-Dade and The Miami Herald/ el Nuevo Herald, and media partners Univision and Comcast, which provides the people of South Florida a way to help their neighbors in need.
“The Turkish Coalition of America hopes that this donation will provide clean water and vital materials to alleviate the suffering of those suffering from the recent outbreak of cholera,” said G. Lincoln McCurdy, President of the coalition. “The Turkish American community continues to be responsive to the needs of the Haitian people; and we hope that this donation inspires others to contribute to this worthy cause.”
The grant will be used for buying and installing water filtration systems in affected areas in Haiti. These water filtration systems can process 10,000 gallons of water a day and are guaranteed for five years. These funds will also be used for the continued to distribution of personal hygiene kits and water rehydration kits.
“We thank the Turkish Coalition of America for providing this donation to Operation Helping Hands,’’ said Joe Pena of The United Way. “The continued generosity of TCA has helped our organization and others to provide life-saving supplies to the grief stricken nation of Haiti.”
According to the CDC, an epidemic cholera strain has been confirmed in Haiti, causing the first cholera outbreak in Haiti in at least 100 years. Cholera is a potentially fatal bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. In Haiti more than 4,000 people have died from cholera and 209,000 have been infected since October.
TCA and the Turkish American community of Florida and throughout the nation commend Operation Helping Hands for their leadership in helping the grief-stricken nation of Haiti.
