With this initiative AmeriCares is supporting agencies responding to the recent hurricane, along with nonprofit organizations continuing to rebuild and aid the recovery in the wake of the tornadoes, Mississippi and Missouri river flooding and other major emergencies since February 1, 2011. The funds will support a wide variety of initiatives, including restoring and expanding health services in affected communities, increasing access to medicine, providing counseling and case management for survivors, repairing damaged facilities, and enhancing emergency response capabilities. AmeriCares will award funding on a first-come, first-served basis through Oct. 31, 2011. To learn more about how to apply click here.

AmeriCares emergency response experts were in close contact with free health care clinics and emergency management officials in eight states with offers of medical aid, emergency relief supplies and other assistance both in advance of Hurricane Irene and throughout the weekend when it made landfall along the East Coast, taking down power lines and causing massive flooding in some areas.

In hard-hit North Carolina and Virginia, where the hurricane made landfall on Saturday, AmeriCares and Nestle Waters North America are delivering more than 120,000 bottles of water for families affected by severe flooding and major power outages. In Virginia, two truckloads of bottled water will be delivered to food banks serving rural communities expected to be without power for up to three weeks, rendering their well water pumps unusable and cutting off their access to clean water. In North Carolina, another two truckloads of bottled water will be delivered to food pantries serving communities still coping with heavy flooding.

AmeriCares aids survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world and across the United States, saving lives and restoring health and hope. In the United States, AmeriCares also provides ongoing aid for more than 300 health clinics serving the poor and uninsured. For more information go to www.AmeriCares.org or call 1(800) 486-HELP.

About AmeriCares 
AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid to 147 countries.