We love going to Haiti! Arne goes once a year (at least). We have many friends down there, and have had the joy of helping schools, orphanages, churches, mobile medical clinics, wells and community centers get up and running. It is our ongoing privilege to help in these efforts through fundraising concerts, merchandise sales and any other thing we can think of!
Imagine our relief to find that the school children, orphans, staff and teachers were ALL O.K. after last week’s earthquake.
However, we realized that our friends in the Les Cayes region were in the perfect position to help those who were fleeing devastated Port-au-Prince. Many have traveled to find food and shelter with relatives after their homes were ruined.
The Les Cayes Hospital is handling overflow from P-a-P. But they are in sore need of supplies.
We are in the process of filling a 40 foot container full of clothes, food, and medical supplies to ship down to Les Cayes (100 miles west of the capital) Right now there are many food collection points around Wallingford stores, Quinnipiac University, and public schools.
The Junior High class of the University School of Milwaukee raised enough money to cover shipping costs! Jack L. Marcus, Inc., a Milwaukee department store has donated thousands of brand new summer clothes. Everywhere we look it seems people’s hearts are opening and they are asking “how can we help?”
After seeing so much heartbreak and devastation on TV, it feels good to be proactively improving the conditions for these Haitian people. As we speak, Musicians for Humanity, a group birthed out of New England Conservatory’s students’ desire to make a difference, is forming their own College team to go down in March. On all fronts, Jazz’d 4 life is privileged to work with high caliber, strongly principled and compassionate volunteers both in the U.S. and abroad. It is our hope that Haiti will recover and surpass expectations, making great strides in the years to come!
