We thank the Boston Globe very much for covering and highlighting this effort.
The 2021 Mass Haitian Relief Taskforce was started this August 2021 by the Association of Haitian Women in Boston, Inc. "AFAB-KAFANM" (afab-kafanm.org) and the Haitian-Americans United, Inc. "H.A.U." (hauinc.org) along with multiple partner organizations and community leaders. See the article inserted below:
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Boston group pushes forward to deliver relief to Haiti
By Nick Stoico Globe Correspondent,Updated August 25, 2021, 12:18 a.m.
As thousands of Haitians continue to live outdoors in desperate need of basic supplies in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake earlier this month, local organizers in Boston are pushing forward in their efforts to deliver relief. More than 2,200 people died in the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck southern Haiti about 80 miles west of Port-au-Prince on Aug. 14 and damaged more than 100,000 homes. The Mattapan-based nonprofit Haitian-Americans United estimates that the earthquake has forced more than 1.2 million people from their homes, including hundreds of thousands of children.
“All the data that we’ve shared doesn’t actually give you a full sense of the actual desperation [and] misery that people are still experiencing with disease, with hunger, with mental health conditions that need to be addressed,” said Charlot Lucien, head of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts, during a virtual meeting of the Haitian-Americans United organization Tuesday night. Advertisement Lucien showed photos of people who survived the massive quake living in a tent village where they’ve huddled with their belongings beneath tarps held up by sticks and branches. One photo showed a boy and his mother smiling at each other as they sat in their makeshift tent, the mother holding a baby in her arms. “We want ... to bring back this sense of human connection and normalcy between family members and relatives,” Lucien said. Hatian-Americans United has partnered with 18 grassroots organizations in Haiti that are focused on delivering supplies to the most remote areas impacted by the earthquake, which damaged many roads and bridges and cut off access to some parts of the country, Lucien said. The group has so far raised more than $12,000 and is beginning to disburse those funds to the groups they’ve partnered with. Their goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of next week. Advertisement Monetary donations can be made through the group’s website at HAUinc.org/helphaiti. The organization is also seeking various items for donation, including first aid equipment, tents, bedsheets, diapers, hand sanitizer, and canned and dry food. Donation centers have been set up in Dorchester, Mattapan, Randolph, Everett, and two locations in Brockton. “It’s very important that we fill these boxes,” Lionel Lucien said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Please reach out to your networks, your friends and family, your work, and ask them to donate something, whatever they can, even one flashlight or one box.” Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickStoico.