AUPE to donate $20,000 to Red Cross for Haiti earthquake relief
EDMONTON – The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees will donate $20,000 to the Red Cross for earthquake relief in Haiti.
Donations from three individual locals brings the amount provided for Haiti relief by Alberta’s largest union to $31,000.
AUPE’s Provincial Executive voted at a meeting in Edmonton Friday to make the donation, said union president Guy Smith.
“Members of the Provincial Executive expressed their grave concern about the disaster in Haiti and their support for the people of Haiti,” Smith said.
“We would also encourage AUPE locals and individual AUPE members to consider making their own donations to the Red Cross for the relief of Haiti,” said Smith. Individual donors may donate on-line through the Canadian Red Cross Website – www.redcross.ca .
Smith noted that three AUPE locals have made significant donations of their own to the Haiti relief effort:
- Local 001, Alberta Government Administrative Support Employees, $5,000
- Local 012, Alberta Government Technical and Field Services Employees, $5,000
- Local 038, NAIT Support Employees, $1,000
AUPE Executive Secretary-Treasurer Bill Dechant said Provincial Executive members picked the Red Cross because it is a well-established legitimate charity that is part of a worldwide organization that has mobilized to launch a large relief and recovery operation in Haiti.
“We felt the Red Cross had the expertise and connections to make the most of our members’ donation,” said Dechant.
The massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of the Caribbean nation, causing buildings in the capital Port au Prince to collapse, killing thousands. It is estimated more than 200,000 Haitians have been left homeless by the disaster and as many as three million have been affected.
30
For more information, contact:
Guy Smith, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-265-2294 (mobile telephone)
Bill Dechant, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, AUPE, 780-930-3302 or 780-232-3870 (mobile telephone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (mobile telephone)