I am running the New York City Marathon...for Hands On Disaster Response!

Hands On Disaster Response (www.HODR.org) is a non-profit organization that provides immediate and critical aid to victims of natural disasters.

In December 2008, I spent over a week in Gonaives, Haiti working with Hands On Disaster Response. During the series of hurricanes in 2008, the majority of buildings in Gonaives were flooded. When the floodwaters receded, homes were left filled with up to six feet of hardened mud. Many families were living on the tin roofs of their homes, or in tents set up in a camp outside of town. Numerous families had lost all their belongings. Wells were contaminated by  the flood, rendering the water undrinkable. Because Haiti has what is considered to be an unstable political climate many  non-profit organizations refuse to go to Haiti, leaving the people of the country stranded without aid.

Hands On Disaster Response created a  job site where volunteers could be fed and housed for free, if they were willing to donate their time. When I was there, over 40 volunteers from countries all over the world were digging out the homes, attempting to find a way to address the wells, and sending people to the tent camp on a weekly basis to play with the children. Hands On Disaster Response also organized a brigade of local volunteers to work along with the international ones. It was amazing to see a relatively small organization accomplish so much! Although physically the work was quite demanding, it was also unbelievably rewarding.

In the past, HODR has also assisted in national projects in Arkansas, Biloxi, Missouri and Iowa; and international projects in Peru, Bangladesh,Thailand, the Phillipines, and Indonesia.

This is my small effort to help HODR keep doing such amazing work! Part of being there and seeing the work was watching the aid go directly TO the people who needed it most, at the time WHEN they needed it most. Any amount helps, so please give what you can.


Thank you so much!

I wish you health and happiness.

xxx Elizabeth