OPP Association donates $10,000 to Haiti relief fund

BARRIE, ON, Feb. 1 /CNW/ - The Ontario Provincial Police Association on behalf of its members has donated $10,000 to the Red Cross for the Haiti relief fund. The donation was a joint effort between the individual OPPA branches across the province and the Association.

"Our members feel a certain connection to Haiti because during the past few years many of them have volunteered to serve there in a policing capacity and we wanted to contribute something to help those who lost everything in the disaster," said Jim Christie , vice president of the OPP Association. "We were fortunate that none of our members was there during the devastating earthquake."

OPP officers have served in more than 70 United Nations Missions and nine officers have served in Haiti during the past several years.

Shannon Scully , community service coordinator for the Simcoe Branch of the Canadian Red Cross, said the agency has currently received a total of $83.4 Million for the Haiti Earthquake Fund.

"Locally, in Walk in donations, the branch has received more than $52,000 and with the generous donation from the OPPA of $10,000 , locally we are over $62,000 which is incredible!!! We are blown away by the support that we have seen from our community," she said.

"We thank all the members of the OPPA for supporting our efforts to aid the Haitian recovery. We will be working in Haiti for years to come as we help the communities rebuild, recover and become more resilient. Haiti's current most critical needs are food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and psychosocial support and with your financial support we will be able to provide this to the Haitian communities," Scully said.

See attached photo at http://files.newswire.ca/849/oppa.doc.

For further information: Jim Christie, Vice President, OPP Association, [phone]