AHF To Screen Hurricane Relief Doc Matthew at Silicon Beach Film Festival on April 24th at 6PM
Short documentary film follows AHF’s first responders in Haiti in the
critical days after Hurricane Matthew
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In the days following October 2016’s Hurricane Matthew that left
hundreds of thousands of Haitians homeless and without food, clothing,
electricity and water, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) was among the
first to spring into action to mobilize and deliver aid to the storm’s
victims. A Category 4 storm, Matthew was third strongest on record to
hit the country, and the strongest to hit Haiti since Hurricane Cleo in
1964.
Confronted with troubling reports of the widespread devastation and the
slow response by international aid organizations to reach the worst-hit
areas when every second counts, AHF staff was able to collect enough
supplies within 24 hours to fill up two cargo planes to deliver to
Haiti. AHF also sent doctors from Mexico and the Caribbean who traveled
to Haiti to join local medical staff in treating the sick and injured.
AHF is proud to present its debut screening of Matthew, a short
film documentary that follows AHF’s first responders in Haiti in the
critical moments after Hurricane Matthew swept across the country, at
the Silicon
Beach Film Festival on Monday, April 24th at 6pm at
the Howard Hughes Cinemark 18 & XD (6081 Center Dr., Los Angeles, CA).
WHAT:
Screening of AHF’s Matthew at the Silicon Beach
Film Festival
WHEN:
Monday, April 24th
6:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Howard Hughes Cinemark 18 & XD
6081 Center
Drive
Los Angeles, CA
Produced by AHF’s Associate Creative Director Stacy Fong, the
ten-minute documentary raises awareness of the dire ongoing medical and
infrastructure needs of Haiti, including the fact that many victims of
Hurricane Matthew are without shoes, including children. These children
are at a significantly increased risk of foot injury and infection that
can lead to more serious illnesses. Shoes, clothing and monetary
contributions may be sent to AHF’s Haiti Relief fund at 700 SE 3rd Ave.,
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 or made online at haitirelief.ahf.org
“It is an absolute shame that global health policies don’t react to
public health emergencies the same,” said AHF Southern Bureau Chief Michael
Kahane, who helped lead AHF’s relief efforts in Haiti. “People are
starving. People are sick. As a public health organization, people can
respond better, more quickly, to situations like this. We have a moral
obligation to respond more quickly and to help people in need.”
“It was an honor to tell the story of the AHF Haiti team and how they
came together to help thousands of their fellow Haitians all while they
were also dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane in their own
personal lives,” said AHF Associate Creative Director Stacy Fong.
“There were several challenges that come along with filming in a
disaster area, but I’m proud of the outcome and hope it’s just the
beginning in raising awareness to the needs of this country that will
undoubtedly be recovering for years to come.”
AHF is the 2nd largest provider of care to people living with
HIV/AIDS in Haiti and provides care at its clinic in Port au Prince as
well as through its mobile clinics that reach out to rural populations
throughout the country. In addition, AHF provides care to the HIV+
inmate population in the Haiti National Prison System and links newly
released inmates to continued care. AHF also has the only
contact-tracing program in existence in Haiti, contacting and testing
partners of inmates who are found to be HIV+. Through this program, AHF
generally identifies two additional people infected with HIV who do not
know their status for every prisoner who tests positive and we link
those partners into treatment.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over
700,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin
America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn
more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare
and Instagram: @aidshealthcare
Contacts
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director,
Communications
+1.323.308.1833 work
+1.323.791.5526 mobile
gedk@aidshealth.org
or
Christopher
Johnson, Associate Director of Communications
+1.323.960.4846
work
+1.310.880.9913 mobile
christopher.johnson@aidshealth.org
