Volunteers at work Monday at the Centro Bono, a Jesuit organization in Santo Domingo. The organization is sending medicine, food, blankets, clothing, shoes and water to Haiti. (John Burnett/NPR)

Today, on NPR’s Morning Edition, reporter John Burnett spoke with Sonia Adames, director of Centro Bono, in Santo Domingo. The Jesuit charity is staffed with volunteers packing boxes full of penicillin, canned food, toilet paper, shoes, baby food and water.

No one remembers an outpouring like this before, not even when Haiti got hit by four tropical storms in 2008 and its flooded towns begged for assistance.

But the earthquake is different, said Adames.

“Truly there is a lot of prejudice toward Haiti in the Dominican Republic. But this earthquake that has physically shaken Haiti has also shaken Dominican society. People have their hearts in their hands,” Adames said.

To hear NPR’s report on relief efforts underway in the Dominican Republic, including those of Centro Bono, click here.

National Jesuit News is urging people to give to the Jesuit organization Jesuit Refugee Service to help those in Haiti. Centro Bono in the Dominican Republic is affliated with JRS.

To support JRS/USA’s humanitarian response to the emergency needs of the Haitian people, please click here to be directed to their secure website and choose “Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.”

Or you may send a check to:

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
1016 16th Street NW Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036

Checks should be made payable to “Jesuit Refugee Service/USA.”
Please clearly note “Haiti Earthquake Relief” in the memo field on the check.