Response to the Haiti Earthquake

The January 2010 earthquake that hit Haiti 16 miles west of its capital, Port-au-Prince, measured 7.0 on the Richer Scale with 52 significant aftershocks. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake; the Haitian Government reported that an estimated 230,000 people had lost their lives, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 were left homeless. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.

In the wake of this tragedy, TransPerfect CEOs Liz Elting and Phil Shawe activated the TransPerfect Employee Matching Program, in which individual employee donations were matched by TransPerfect. The program raised over $50,000 for Haitian Relief efforts, with donations being divided equally between the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.

"With the current state of the economy, we would have been thrilled to raise half this amount," stated Liz Elting, President and CEO of TransPerfect. "The generosity of our staff has been truly awe inspiring. Together, we are pleased to have been able to play a small role in helping those in affected areas."