Comfort for Kids -- Haiti: Bright Horizons Responds to the Disaster

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Highlights

  • Bright Horizons will match dollar for dollar, pound for pound, euro for euro, all contributions up to $25,000.
  • We are translating Jim Greenman's "What Happened to My World? Helping Children Cope with Natural Disaster and Catastrophe" into Haitian Creole.
  • Comfort Kits include items such as a blanket and a stuffed animal, and some basic necessities including a water bottle, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
With each passing day, we hear more heart-wrenching stories and see new images of the devastation in Haiti. Bright Horizons, in accordance with our mission, is committed to helping families in crisis. The disaster in Haiti is another moment we have felt the call to act. Comfort for Kids Haiti is our organizational response focused on helping children and families who have been directly affected by the earthquake.

As we did in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, we are once again working with Mercy Corps, our relief agency partner. Our plan, includes the following key components:

  • We are translating Jim Greenman's What Happened to My World? Helping Children Cope with Natural Disaster and Catastrophe into Haitian Creole. This incredibly valuable resource will be made available to parents, teachers, and relief workers in Haiti as well as to U.S. Haitian communities.
  • We are creating Comfort Kits for children in Haiti. These Comfort Kits, which will be distributed to thousands of Haitian children, will include items such as a blanket and a stuffed animal, and some basic necessities including a water bottle, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
  • We are preparing "train the trainer" sessions for teachers, relief workers, and other professionals in Haiti to support and guide their work with children.
  • Finally, we are creating a Comfort for Kids Haiti fund. Bright Horizons will match dollar for dollar, pound for pound, euro for euro, all contributions up to $25,000. This fund will support our joint Comfort for Kids ' Haiti effort with Mercy Corps. If you are interested in making a donation either click here or send a check made out to the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children noting that the donation is for the Haiti fund.

    The check can be sent to: Becky Bowman Bright Horizons Foundation for Children Attn: Haiti Fund 209 10th Avenue South, Suite 300 Nashville, TN 37203 615.256.9915, ext. 1828 [email protected] -or- Tracy Wilkes-Green European Foundation Manager Bright Horizons Foundation for Children 2 Crown Court, Rushden, Northants, NN10 6BS 020 8342 1512 / mobile 07739 911469 [email protected]

In addition, Bright Horizons co-founder Linda Mason will be traveling to Haiti in the next few days to contribute to the relief efforts. She will update us regularly on her experiences as she prepares for her trip and once she arrives. We are proud to work with such a compassionate community of people and to be able to leverage our resources to help in this time of crisis. We will continue to keep you updated as our efforts evolve.
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Bright Horizons
Bright Horizons
In 1986, our founders saw that child care was an enormous obstacle for working parents. On-site centers became one way we responded to help employees – and organizations -- work better. Today we offer child care, elder care, and help for education and careers -- tools used by more than 1,000 of the world’s top employers and that power many of the world's best brands
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