Afya Foundation to Send Supplies to Survivors of Latest Ecuadorian Earthquake

From the Afya Foundation:

In response to the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador on Saturday, April 16, the Afya Foundation announced it will send 10 pallets of desperately needed medical and other key humanitarian supplies to Ecuador this week. The shipment is part of an international effort to help equip Ecuador’s medical providers with supplies and equipment needed to deliver care to earthquake survivors.

“Our response to the devastation in Ecuador echoes Afya’s overall mission to deliver critical medical supplies as a practical – and powerfully impactful – way to help. We ask our neighbors and friends to join us in this effort, especially given the deep ties between Ecuador and New York,” said Danielle Butin, M.P.H., O.T. R., founder and executive director of the Afya Foundation.

The Afya Foundation is working with the Consulate General of Ecuador in New York to facilitate and expedite the shipping of the medical supply pallets to be airlifted from its Yonkers warehouse. All goods will be delivered to the Ecuadorian Government, who will then distribute the items appropriately to hospitals and trauma centers in need. Hundreds of body bags are also included in the shipment to provide burials with dignity to those who lost their lives in this disaster, the largest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), through its longstanding partnership with Afya in the area of disaster response, is funding the initial set of shipments to Ecuador. JDC is the world’s largest Jewish humanitarian assistance organization, working in 70 countries and in Israel to alleviate hunger and hardship, rescue Jews in danger, create lasting connections to Jewish life and provide immediate relief and long-term development support for victims of natural and man-made disasters. JDC has provided assistance to victims of natural and man-made disasters around the globe, including Nepal, the Philippines, Haiti, Japan and South Asia after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and continues to operate programs designed to rebuild infrastructure and community life in disaster-stricken regions.

Further information, including details for donation, is available through the Afya Foundation website.