IMPAKTaid was set up minutes after the waves of the tsunami crashed down on Sri Lanka on 26th December 2004. Formed by the team at Inlanka Group of Companies that is owned and operated by a Canadian couple, Pam and Jerry Porodo, IMPAKTaid began providing for the immediate needs of the injured and traumatized.
Friends, volunteers and donations poured through the doors and a relief network was established within 24 hours of the disaster. The first delivery to the South Coast arrived on 28 th December.
Working around the clock over 300 volunteers have packed, transported and distributed food, medical supplies and other necessities to hospitals and camps island-wide, at an estimated value in excess of Rs. 100,000,000/- (U.S $1,000,000.)
Our efforts to date have been so successful that established relief organisations such as the Red Cross (Sweden), Luxembourg Search and Rescue and Germany’s ORMS handed over surplus supplies and equipment before departing Sri Lanka in the knowledge that they would be deployed with the greatest efficiency.
IMPAKTaid has since evolved into The Impakt Aid Trust which is currently pending charitable status. It still relies on volunteers but The Impakt Aid Trust has become a permanent aid and development organization. The Impakt Aid Trust supports directly, or indirectly, over 42,000 displaced persons in the districts of Galle, Moratuwa, Panadura, Bentota, Ambalangoda, Seenigama and Yala. These people are either in camps or in satellite settlements and account for approximately 5% of the Sri Lankans displaced by the tsunami.
Having provided the immediate necessities of water, shelter, food, medical supplies and clothing to affected areas, emerging priorities include medium to long-term projects such as sanitation, hygiene, trauma counseling and providing employment opportunities for widows and families whose sources of income have been lost or curtailed by the disaster.
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