A Message from Chuck Maniscalco, CEO and all of the Seventh Generation Community:

Our company has been built by considering the impacts of our decisions on the next seven generations. But like most of you, this week our thoughts have been on the impact we can have right now in helping the people of Haiti in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s devastating earth quake.

In the immediate term, we’re encouraging the Seventh Generation community to give what they can to help relief organizations provide the emergency medical care, safe water, and food so urgently needed. We are also reaching out to organizations on the ground in Haiti to evaluate the best way to donate our products, including diapers and wipes, sanitary pads and disinfectant cleaners to help during what is likely to be a long recovery.

There are many good organizations responding with humanitarian aid in Haiti. Large, well-known international aid agencies like the Red Cross have jumped in to provide critical services. But smaller groups are playing a crucial role as well. We have come to know two of these organizations, and support their efforts:

MADRE, an international women's human rights group, is working with the Haitian relief organization, Zanmi Lasante, to bring humanitarian aid into the country overland from the Dominican Republic.

In their words, here’s why we feel it is important to support their efforts:

In the wake of disasters like the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti, it is often comforting to see big international agencies taking charge of relief and reconstruction efforts. No doubt international agencies—with their resources, know-how, heavy machinery, and access to government—have a critical role to play. But large-scale relief operations are not always best suited to meet the needs of those who are made most vulnerable by disaster, namely, women and their children.

Because of their role as care-takers and because of the discrimination they face, women have a disproportionate need for assistance. Yet, they are often overlooked in large-scale aid operations. In the chaos that follows disasters, aid too often reaches those who yell the loudest or push their way to the front of the line. When aid is distributed through the "head of household" approach, women-headed families may not be recognized, and women within male-headed families may be marginalized when aid is controlled by male relatives.

To donate to MADRE’s relief efforts, click here.

Another organization we’ve chosen to support is Partners In Health, which has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years as part of their ongoing efforts to bring modern medical care to poor communities in nine countries around the world. Their investment in building Zanmi Lasante into such a strong local partner with medical facilities in Haiti’s Central Plateau and Artibonite Valley put them in position to respond quickly to the disaster. Their physicians are providing urgently needed medical care and their on the ground procurement and logistics team has forged relationships with organizations in the Dominican Republic to get needed supplies into Port-au-Prince.

To donate directly to Partners In Health, click here.

Please consider giving to either of these groups or the organization of your choice working to relieve the suffering in Haiti.