Catholic Relief Services and Caritas are on the ground in Beirut helping with rescue and recovery after an explosion rocked the city, reducing buildings to rubble, killing 150 people and injuring thousands more.

"In the port area of Beirut, massive explosions caused dozens of deaths, thousands of injuries and serious destruction," Pope Francis said in a release issued on Winter Park's St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church website. "Let us pray for the victims, for their families; and let us pray for Lebanon so that, through the dedication of all its social, political and religious elements, it might face this extremely tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the grave crisis they are experiencing.”

A number of faith-based organizations, along with Catholic Relief Services and Caritas, are working to meet the immediate needs of survivors.

For more information on how to donate through Catholic Relief Services, click here. Funds provide meals, shelter, medication, hygiene kits and clean water to those in need.