Give Them a Hand Foundation not-for-profit organization founded in August 2004 by Gordon Tapper, former Chief of Special Section at the United Nations. Initially it was a simple response to Hurricane Stan in 2004 that struck Haiti, Guatemala and Grenada amongst other countries leaving behind devastation and suffering amongst the affected people. The impetus was the desire on the part of NGO’s and staff expressed informally in the cafeterias and corridors of the United Nation’s building, for something to be done to alleviate this suffering outside of the formal and sometimes bureaucratic structure of the United Nations. GTAH facilitated the collection of donations form individuals and organizations and delivery to humanitarian groups in Haiti . GTAH is growing and has now become an informal community based partnership initiative, bringing together member states, NGO’s (non-governmental organizations), the private sector, the artistic community, United Nation’s departments and United Nation’s staff. Collectively, these partnerships have undertaken certain projects which, in and of itself, support the humanitarian and developmental goals of the United Nations, including the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. GTAH has collaborated with several Permanent Missions to the United Nations, including the Dominican Republic, Haiti , Jamaica, Guatemala, Kenya and Italy to support disaster relief efforts, rebuilding efforts and/or developmental projects in their respective countries. These include medical missions, delivery of donations to orphanages, children’s hospitals, schools, community youth groups and facilitating the donations and delivery of millions of dollars of medical equipment and medical supplies to needy hospitals in some needy countries. GTAH is currently making arrangements for the building of a school. GTAH’s emphasis within the Millennium Development Goals is primarily on the betterment of the condition of children through education, healthcare and the alleviation of extreme poverty. GTAH has also undertaken projects that are intended to ensure environmental sustainability. GTAH supports other NGO’s and the United Nation offices with the implementation of their conferences, projects and events.
GTAH Objectives
