As most of you have probably seen in the news, there was a disastrous earthquake in Haiti that practically destroyed 80% of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as many surrounding areas. Haiti, considered the poorest country in the Americas, does not have the resources or the ability to deal with a crisis of this magnitude, where there are over three million people affected and death toll currently estimated to be over five hundred thousand and possibly reaching one million.

As their neighboring country, the Dominican Republic has the responsibility to help in any way possible. Our Dominican Penn and Wharton Alumni Club has already begun its efforts; however we need help from our entire alumni network since the damage is so catastrophic that no single country, government, or International Organization can manage alone; especially since air traffic and ground traffic are very limited due to damages in airports and streets.

The fastest and most practical way to help is by making monetary contributions, which will be used to immediately send the most pressing necessities. Our efforts will be focused on sending bottled drinking water. We have already negotiated very favorable terms with the largest bottled water suppliers and have set up an account in order to expedite and easily accept the much needed donations. This account will be subject to external auditing procedures. Any donation, no matter how small, counts!

Donations can be made using credits cards by going this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=11172380

ONCE YOU ENTER THE DONATION AMOUNT, PLEASE CLICK ON THE "UPDATE TOTAL" BUTTON BEFORE ENTERING THE BILLING ADDRESS.

We will keep you updated of all the help our General Alumni Network managed to provide, and we ask that you please forward this to anyone and everyone that can help.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Ben-David Bonett (C'08) Dominican Penn Alumni Club President
Fabian Mendy (WG'92) Dominican Wharton Alumni Club President