As the food crisis escalates in Haiti, South Floridians are urged to come to its aid in an effort to alleviate the crisis levels in the struggling nation. Reverend Jesse Jackson, who visited Miami’s Haitian community on Sunday, to raise awareness of the food crisis, made an appeal to South Floridians and the U.S. and plans to lead a delegation to Haiti within weeks to bring assistance to the poor.

Echoing his sentiments is Lauderhill Commissioner Dale Holness, an active advocate for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, who said South Floridians should try to pool their efforts and act “through the Haitian Consulate, so that it can be done in an organized way.” The commissioner further urged everyone to call their “congressmen, senators, the governor and the White House to urge them to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitian here that are out of status.” There has been a cry from the Haitian community and advocates for the US to allow Haitian to remain in the country under the guidelines of the TPS. Holness asserted that, “It would be a shame for us to send these people back to Haiti to perish in this escalating crisis.”

Going a step further, U.S. Congressman, Kendrick Meek (D – Florida) visited Haiti earlier this week where he met with government and business officials to discuss the impact of the crisis. The Congressman is also coordinating relief efforts.

On the international stage the response to the food crisis has been tremendous. Following days of public disturbance due to food shortage earlier this month, Haitian President Rene Préval attempted to ease concerns by announcing subsidies to cut the price of imported rice by more than 15 percent, and, significantly, plans to revive local agriculture by reducing the price of fertilizer.

Haiti’s neighbors in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are exploring the possibility of providing financial aid to Haiti. CARICOM Chairman and Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said the regional body has initiated talks with Préval on the hope of helping the Haitian government provide some relief to its citizens. Meanwhile, United States Congressional representatives have demanded immediate debt relief for Haiti and the release of millions of dollars in food aid.

Members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus have launched a campaign to raise awareness about the Haitian crisis, citing the humanitarian emergency unfolding in relatively close proximity to the US.

''We need all hands on deck,” insisted New York Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks at a press briefing on Wednesday, along with other lawmakers and civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Lawmakers said that although Haiti has been allotted US$96 million as part of the United Nations World Food Program, only US$13 million has been released to date. They also called on the US Treasury Department to use its influence with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank so that Haiti bypasses a US$48.7 million payment due to multilateral lending agencies this year.

Meanwhile, the United Nations announced on Wednesday that the Brazilian contingent of its mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has started distributing food to Haitians. Brazilian soldiers distributed 14 tons of food, including rice, beans, sugar and oil, to over 3,000 families in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

In New York City, Democratic Councilman Dr. Mathieu Eugene, the first Haitian to ever hold elected office in that city, is putting together a task force to provide humanitarian assistance to Haiti. ”This, I believe, is a moral obligation for Haitians in the US to do.” Eugene said. “I’m calling on everyone to join me, Haitians, Friends of Haiti, elected representatives, to collect food, water and medicine for the needy people.”

The United Nations also announced that it was taking further action to confront the crisis with plans to distribute 8,000 more tons of food there. The UN said its World Food Program (WFP) would hand out the food, focusing on children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

The World Bank also said it is providing a US$10 million grant to Haiti to help the administration respond to the crisis. The Bank plans to use the grant to support Haiti’s government efforts to rapidly scale up social safety net programs, including school feeding, while pursuing longer term measures to create jobs.