United Way of Miami-Dade distributed $211,630 in grants to support relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts in areas affected by Hurricane Matthew. In October, the United Way board approved a $200,000 emergency relief grant in response to Hurricane Matthew. In addition, Operation Helping Hands – a partnership

between United Way and The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald that offers residents an opportunity to donate after a disaster – raised $11,630.

“We were spared, but our neighbors to the north as well as in the Caribbean were horribly impacted by Hurricane Matthew this year,” Harve A. Mogul, president and CEO, United Way of Miami-Dade, said. “In the past, we’ve benefitted from the generosity of other communities and now it’s our turn to reach out and help. We are committed to helping those most impacted to rebuild by supporting both relief and recovery efforts.”

The following grants are being made to organizations that are working directly with people impacted by the hurricane in Northeast Florida, South Carolina, Haiti and Cuba:

• $50,351 to Florida’s First Coast Relief Fund, a partnership in Northeast Florida between United Way of Northeast Florida, the local community foundation and the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, among others, to provide recovery support in the area.  The dollars contributed are being matched by the DuPont Fund, up to $250,000.
• $50,335 to United Way of Coastal Carolina, which is focused on helping individuals recover, particularly filling the gaps between what FEMA and insurance companies don’t cover.
• $54,000 to Food for the Poor to purchase 15 homes in Haiti; each home costs $3,600 to build. The housing fund is being matched 1:1, so the organization will build 30 homes with this grant. Food for the Poor is trying to build 1,000 homes in 100 days.
• $6,343 to Project Medishare to purchase 2,000 clean birth kits for pregnant women in Haiti. At the time of the hurricane, there were approximately 16,000 pregnant women expected to give birth within 3 months. The kits are for the midwives to protect the women and their babies from infections including cholera.
• $50,000 grant through the Archdiocese of Miami to Caritas Cubana. Caritas Cubana has been involved in purchasing food for victims, purchasing pregnant pigs for distribution, because the livestock essentially washed away, and repairing roofs.

For more information on Operation Helping Hands, visit www.unitedwaymiami.org/ohh or call 305-643-2501.