Earlier today (Sat., Jan. 16) President Obama called upon two former presidents to lead fund-raising in the United States to help Haiti’s earthquake victims.
He asked former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the White House to lead fund-raising in the United States.
President Obama’s announcement as the immense relief operation continued in Haiti. But four days after the earthquake struck, with many cries for help going silent, not nearly enough search and rescue teams or emergency supplies could make it here. The United Nations said it had fed 8,000 people, while two million to three million people remained in dire need.
The disaster has prompted a world-wide relief effort, and Americans could do their part, Mr. Bush said, by sending money.
“I know a lot of people want to send blankets,” Mr. Bush said. “Just send your cash.”
Mr. Bush, the Republican who proceeded Mr. Obama in the White House, and Mr. Clinton, a Democrat who is the United Nations’ special envoy for Haiti, have started a Web site to raise to collect donations.
“Presidents Bush and Clinton will help the American people to do their part, because responding to disaster is the work of all of us,” President Obama said, standing alongside the two former presidents while speaking in the White House Rose Garden. “In these difficult hours, America stands united.”
“Responding to disaster must be the work of all of us,” President Obama said.
Information from the New York Times contributed to this report.
