Fundraising

In Miami, HUFH Board Member Kevin Sharpley, has been working around the clock to collect donations for the earthquake relief effort, and to organize fund raising benefits for HUFH. Collaborating with local businesses including Ebenenaturals, he has managed to collect essential items that will be shipped out to Haiti for earthquake survivors.

Kevin has also been instrumental in the organization of One love for Haiti, a benefit concert for Haiti Relief.
This Valentine’s Day give the gift of love and help the Haitian community by attending the ‘One Love for Haiti’ Benefit Relief Concert at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami on Sunday, February 14th from 6PM-10PM.

Melky Jean, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Inner Circle, Cornelius MD, Sweet Micky, T-Vice, Frankie Paul, Alana Decosta, Screwdriver, 4th Dimension, R&B Sensation, Wayne Wade, Mawon, The Collaboration and King Yellowman*  are scheduled to appear as well as special surprise guests who will take the stage in this memorable event hosted in conjunction with YouKwik.com, ClassAct, and Hollywood Unites for Haiti.

With 100% of the proceeds from One Love for Haiti being donated directly to the relief and rebuilding of the Haitian Nation, this Valentine’s Day event gives the South Florida community the opportunity to unite and provide assistance and assurance to our Haitian neighbors. With everyone’s involved support, we are sure to open their hearts and provide an indication of hope for Haiti’s future!
* All artists and guest appearances are subject to change.Tickets
$25.00 prior to event and $35.00 day of the event
VIP Tickets and Suite Packages are also available. .

In Miami, Haitian-born Ron Duprat, perhaps best known from Bravo’s hit TV series “Top Chef” has teamed up with four fellow contestants, Mattin Noblia, Hector Santiago and Michael V. to welcome other fine chefs across the country in an all-chef Relief Benefit on St. Valentine’s Day for his native land. On February 14, all participating chefs and restaurants will donate up to 10 percent of their receipts to Hearts for Haiti: An American Dining Relief Benefit. The donated funds will be divided between two charities: Hollywood Unites For Haiti and Kinship Circle Disaster Relief. One hundred percent of the donated funds will go directly to on-the-ground relief efforts. Restaurants who wish to participate can contact
 Valary Bremier at valary@mindspring.com

So many people have given their time, expertise, and money to help HUFH help in Haiti, too many to mention but I thank you all.

HUFH continues its work with panamericanrelief.org to deliver aid to families. HUFH is also creating and supporting existing centers which provide shelter, food and safety for displaced youth at a time when they are most vulnerable to exploitation.

Thanks for the support!

Food Distribution

I am back in Los Angeles doing the essential work of raising funds and awareness to support PADF-OAS-HUFH in their work delivering aid to the survivors of the earthquake.

PADF-OAS-HUFH  served more than 35,000 people within the first 9 days of the earthquake with food, medicine and shelter. A large quantity of family sized tents and tarps is being shipped out in the next few days. These are critical as many families are sleeping outside, in the dirt. 

Today "family food packages" were  distributed to 600 people in PaP, 110 in Carrefour Hector, tomorrow another 400 in Cite Soleil. That will feed over 6,000 people for three days. 


People can now donate to the relief effort online at Donate or phone 1-877-572-4484 or to donate $5 Text Heal to 50555 

LAN CARGO Flight Provides Critical Lifeline to Haiti

Washington, D.C., January 22, 2010 –

Twenty tons of urgently needed earthquake relief supplies collected by partners of the Pan American Development Foundation will arrive to Port-au-Prince on Monday as part of a humanitarian aid flight operated by LAN CARGO.

www.PanAmericanRelief.org

“LAN CARGO’s donation of the flight opens another critical lifeline to the survivors in Haiti,” says John Sanbrailo, PADF’s Executive Director. “This flight allows PADF’s relief office in Port-au-Prince to receive and distribute vital supplies that have been donated by our partners and friends in the Miami area.”

PADF is using its space to send medicine, medical supplies, food, water and other vital materials to ease the suffering of Haitians who survived the devastating 7.0 earthquake and its aftershocks. The supplies were donated by Missionary Flights International of Fort Pierce, Fla.

LAN CARGO’s 767-300F flight will leave Miami International Airport early Monday morning. It is carrying cargo for PADF, the University of Miami’s Project Medishare and America’s Relief Team, amongst others.

“LAN CARGO is honored to have the opportunity to assist respected organizations like the PADF to transport aid to the earthquake victims in Haiti,” said Cristian Ureta, CEO of LAN CARGO.
PADF – which is collaborating with the Organization of American States (OAS), the non-profit Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH) and other groups – has worked in the country for nearly 30 years on economic development, protecting human rights and responding to natural disasters.

Donations are encouraged by calling toll-free (877) 572-4484, visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org. Text H E A L to 50555 to donate $5.

About HUFH

Hollywood Unites For Haiti is a non-profit charitable aid organization based in Los Angeles that puts 100 percent of its donations directly into the cause of helping Haitian citizens and raising global awareness of ways in which people can help.

www.hufh.org and www.HaitianHero.com

About the OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, which was held in Washington, D.C. from October 1889 to April 1890. Today, it is comprised of 34 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. www.oas.org

About PADF



PADF is a non-profit organization established in 1962 to promote, facilitate, and implement social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past year, it had more than 5.6 million beneficiaries in 18 countries.
 PADF is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Haiti. With nearly three decades of work on the ground, PADF now manages a large portfolio of activities ranging from community-driven development to protecting human rights.
 Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and has field offices in Haiti, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere. www.padf.org

HUFH organizes survivors of Haiti Earthquake

Los Angeles, C.A., January 23, 2010 - HUFH is organizing survivors of the the devastating earthquake in Haiti to assess the needs of their neighborhoods, in particular hard to access areas from Carrefour Hector to Chaloska, so that the right aid is delivered safely and efficiently.

Jimmy Jean-Louis,  Actor and President of Hollywood Unites for Haiti, (“The Haitian” on NBC’s “Heroes”) says, “We are worried that aid will not reach the areas that cannot be accessed by large machinery, not only because of non existing roads but also because of security concerns. Some large relief organizations are reluctant to enter certain areas.”

HUFH an organization made up of Haitian locals, held community meetings and put in place seven teams of seven volunteers each. These teams have begun identifying the victims of their own neighborhoods, from Carrefour Hector to Chaloska. They are evaluating the immediate needs in terms of medical, food, hygiene, as well as the clearing of destroyed houses. The volunteers will wear t-shirts from HUFH therefor will be easily identifiable in the community as aid workers.

“Gaining the trust of the community and sending a message that we are working with them, allows us to deliver aid to the most vulnerable, those who cannot make it to distribution sites,” says Jonas Petit, HUFH’s Director in Haiti.

HUFH working in collaboration with PADF and Organization of American States (OAS) will provide the aid to be distributed into these communities.

Jimmy Jean-Louis urges people to donate, assured that the aid will reach victims in dire need. 

Donations can be made by visiting www.hufh.org, www.haitianhero.com or calling the toll free number 1 877 572-4484.

About HUFH

Hollywood Unites For Haiti is a non-profit charitable aid organization based in Haiti and Los Angeles that puts 100 percent of its donations directly into the cause of helping Haitian citizens and raising global awareness of ways in which people can help. 

HUFH now launches a special campaign to raise funds for the immediate relief and infrastructural rebuilding efforts that will be necessary in the coming months and years. Jimmy Jean-Louis maintains, "It's not enough to keep band-aiding this - my - poorest of counties every few years in the worst of times. We need to keep a long term focus on the plight of the Haitian people until our goals are accomplished.”

About the OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, which was held in Washington, D.C. from October 1889 to April 1890. Today, it is comprised of 34 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. www.oas.org

About PADF
PADF is a non-profit organization established in 1962 to promote, facilitate, and implement social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past year, it had more than 5.6 million beneficiaries in 18 countries. PADF has worked in Haiti for almost 30 years.
PADF is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Haiti. With nearly three decades of work on the ground, PADF now manages a large portfolio of activities ranging from community-driven development to protecting human rights.
Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and has field offices in Haiti, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere. www.padf.org

Donations are encouraged by calling toll-free (877) 572-4484 or visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org. Text HEAL to 50555 to donate $5.One-hundred percent of donations go to Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

Text HEAL to Donate to Haiti’s Recovery 100% to PADF-OAS-HUFH relief efforts

Washington, D.C., -- January 23, 2010 – People can donate $5 to Haiti’s relief and recovery by texting HEAL to 50555, with 100 percent of the money going to those efforts, the nonprofit Pan American Development Foundation announced. www.PanAmericanRelief.org

“Five dollars will make a difference,” says actor Jimmy Jean-Louis, PADF’s celebrity spokesperson. “After participating in on-the-ground relief work for five days in Haiti, I can tell you that the need is enormous.”

PADF – which is collaborating with the Jimmy’s nonprofit Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH) and Organization of American States (OAS) – immediately shifted its Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo, D.R., staff members to relief efforts after the 7.0 earthquake.

PADF’s disaster relief and recovery work covers part of downtown Port-au-Prince and three cities in the Southeast province, explains John Sanbrailo, PADF’s Executive Director. It is also providing support to other organizations.

“It is urgent that individuals and companies continue to contribute to our relief effort,” Sanbrailo says.

Donations are encouraged by calling toll-free (877) 572-4484 or visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org. Text HEAL to 50555 to donate $5.One-hundred percent of donations go to Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

Food, Medicine & Shelter Distributed in Haiti

Food, Medicine & Shelter Distributed in Haiti

Despite generosity, PADF-OAS-HUFH appeal for more donations

Washington, D.C. – January 21, 2010 – Food, temporary shelter, medicines and other supplies are being distributed to Haiti’s earthquake victims – but so much more help is needed, the Pan American Development Foundation announced. www.PanAmericanRelief.org

 “Despite these early deliveries, PADF urgently needs financial support to carry out its mission on the ground,” says John Sanbrailo, PADF’s Executive Director. “PADF is urging individuals and companies to support our earthquake relief efforts by calling (877) 572-4484 or visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org. It’s vital to people’s survival.”

One-hundred percent of the donations go to Haiti earthquake relief effort, Sanbrailo says.

PADF was one of the first nonprofit organizations to set up a supply line from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince via the border city of Jimani. It is using warehouse space donated by IMCA/Caterpillar in Santo Domingo to consolidate supplies. PADF opened a second distribution route via the border city of Pedernales, which is being used to supply by ship the Haitian city of Jacmel.

Through this system, truckloads of supplies have been distributed to hospitals and individuals in Port-au-Prince. In addition to relief provided in the capital, a desperately needed shelter kit – which includes tents, tarps, cooking utensils and water purification tablets for 500 people – arrived to Jacmel on Wednesday. Singer Wyclef Jean contributed to the shelter package.

More support is on its way. For example, today PADF is flying in seven former Marine and Navy combat medics to support emergency operations in Port-au-Prince. The volunteers will be in Haiti for one week.

Two shipping containers with 97,000 pounds of corn will sail from Florida next week. The corn was donated by ISOH/Impact of Holland, Ohio. 

PADF will transport 15 tons of relief supplies from Miami to Port-au-Prince on Monday. Separately, 1,000 sleeping bags donated by Exxel Outdoors of Haleyville, Ala., arrive to Caribbean within a few days. 

PADF, along with the Organization of American States (OAS) and Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH), are working together in the promotion of the crisis and distribution of supplies.

Actor and President of Hollywood Unites for Haiti, Jimmy Jean-Louis (“The Haitian” on NBC’s “Heroes”) and spokesperson for the PADF-OAS-HUFH campaign reminded people to contribute to the relief effort.

They may do so by calling (877) 572-4484 or visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org to make a donation.

About HUFH

Hollywood Unites For Haiti is a non-profit charitable aid organization based in Los Angeles that puts 100 percent of its donations directly into the cause of helping Haitian citizens and raising global awareness of ways in which people can help.

www.hufh.org and www.HaitianHero.com

About the OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, which was held in Washington, D.C. from October 1889 to April 1890. Today, it is comprised of 34 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. www.oas.org

About PADF
PADF is a non-profit organization established in 1962 to promote, facilitate, and implement social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past year, it had more than 5.6 million beneficiaries in 18 countries. PADF has worked in Haiti for almost 30 years.
PADF is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Haiti. With nearly three decades of work on the ground, PADF now manages a large portfolio of activities ranging from community-driven development to protecting human rights.
Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and has field offices in Haiti, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere. www.padf.org

Distributing Aid

Today I visit various areas delivering food/rescue kits to families who have had little help as yet. Speaking to communities waiting for aid I realize that there are some areas too remote and considered hot zones that  large organization won't penetrate. Our team on the ground, Jonas and Karen rallies a group of five respected people from this small community. They in turn elect 7 more group leaders, who gather volunteers to spread through their neighborhood, assess the immediate needs, the injured, and damage to buildings. This task force will distribute aid from HUFH-PADF-OAS into their own community, send in Doctors, detail a plan to begin clear up, and rebuilding in the coming weeks and months. It's only by working with the community, answering to their specific needs can effective progress be made. With this model we will continue affecting more communities in a meaningful way. This is how it's always been here, those who don't have much are the most generous with what they do have, they help each other. The news of looting, sensational as it may be pales in comparison with the unity I've seen in action.  Now we have to gather a work force abroad to so we answer their needs.

Hope for a little girl.

Good news. Shenika is a little girl who had been so badly injured that her doctor said to survive she would need treatment abroad. Someone saw that video on the news and arranged for transportation of Shenika to Santo Domingo. We don't know yet how she is doing but she has a fighting chance now. However her doctor gave names of four other children who need to be transported.

St. Damien hospital now has a separate unit functioning outside. There is no space inside. Doctors from Dominican Republic are attending to patients with critical injuries and open wounds outside.  I see a lady who calls me over, she smiles, recognizing me from a Haitian movie I was in. She calls me by my character's name 'Dao.' I ask her how she is. "I'm not doing well," she says, she lost 15 members of her family in one house. She was the only survivor, rescued three days after her home collapsed.

Port au Prince is totally destroyed. I drive past several Government buildings that have been completely leveled and are deserted. At the University I come across a man pleading with a rescue team to go into the building because he just received a text from someone inside. It's too dangerous to attempt a rescue, they say. They want to help but can't.

At Hotel Montana one of the best hotels in the country where a lot of the top UN workers died whilst attending a meeting on January 12th, when the earthquake hit, I see bodies still being recovered. The owner Nadine Cardozo-Reid was rescued from the building after 5 days.

The Upper part of Petion Ville isn't badly damaged. There is electricity. At Munchies restaurant  food is being handed out for free, up to 900 plates a day.

I deliver some rescue/food kits to the NPFS orphanage in Tabarre. Just before getting home someone calls my cell phone, an old friend. She and 200 people are sleeping outside in Petion Ville Delmas 105, and it has started raining.....

From Haiti - Day +6

We need you to become a Haitian Hero!

My name is Jimmy Jean-Louis, and some of you may recognize me as The Haitian from the TV show Heroes. You may not know that I was born and raised in Haiti. Several of my relatives and friends were killed in the earthquake.
In the aftermath of this horrible tragedy, we are already seeing many true heroes rise to the occasion. But the damage is still beyond anyone's comprehension, so we need as many heroes as possible.
So, would you please consider becoming a hero to the Haitian people, a Haitian Hero?

PADF-OAS to Focus on 2 Heavily Damaged Areas in Haiti

Non-Profit assigned part of downtown Port-au-Prince, Southeast Province

Washington, D.C. – January 18, 2010 – A heavily damaged area of downtown Port-au-Prince and communities in the Southeast province have been assigned to the Pan American Development Foundation and its partners for immediate relief, the non-profit organization announced. www.PanAmericanRelief.org

Haitian civil defense authorities designated these areas because of PADF’s long development experience in these communities and the urgent need for the organization’s extensive background in disaster management.

PADF’s assigned zones are: Port-au-Prince’s downtown section of Bel Air, a heavily residential area known for its beautiful cathedral; and the Southeast province, which includes the seaside cities of Jacmel, Cayes-Jacmel and Marigot.

“The Southeast province was hit as hard as Port-au-Prince but has yet to receive attention by the international media,” says John Sanbrailo, PADF’s Executive Director. “With such a large mandate, PADF is urging individuals and companies to support our earthquake relief efforts by calling (877) 572-4484 or visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org. It’s vital to people’s survival.”

Prior to the devastating 7.0 earthquake, these Southeast province communities (which are about a three-hour drive from Port-au-Prince) were severely damaged by hurricanes and tropical storms 18 months ago. PADF will provide relief supplies to these affected communities via the border city of Pedernales in the Dominican Republic.

Relief to Bel Air will come through PADF’s office in the capital, which receives its supplies from a land route that connects with the border city of Jimani in the Dominican Republic.

PADF – which is collaborating with the Organization of American States (OAS), the non-profit Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH) and other groups – has eight offices in Haiti, with its country headquarters in Port-au-Prince. PADF has worked in the country for nearly 30 years on economic development, protecting human rights and responding to natural disasters.

Meanwhile, actor and President of Hollywood Unites for Haiti, Jimmy Jean-Louis (“The Haitian” on NBC’s “Heroes”) arrived in Port-au-Prince late Saturday to reconnect with his family and to raise awareness of the crisis. What he found stunned him.

“It looked like a war had happened,” says Jean-Louis, who was shocked by the magnitude of destruction and the desperate need of the people.

Jean-Louis is a spokesperson for the PADF-OAS-HUFH campaign to raise money for relief and reconstruction of Haiti. They may do so by calling (877) 572-4484 or visiting www.PanAmericanRelief.org to make a donation.

About HUFH

Hollywood Unites For Haiti is a non-profit charitable aid organization based in Los Angeles that puts 100 percent of its donations directly into the cause of helping Haitian citizens and raising global awareness of ways in which people can help.
www.hufh.org and www.HaitianHero.com

About the OAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, which was held in Washington, D.C. from October 1889 to April 1890. Today, it is comprised of 34 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. www.oas.org

About PADF

PADF is a non-profit organization established in 1962 to promote, facilitate, and implement social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past year, it had more than 5.6 million beneficiaries in 18 countries.

PADF is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Haiti. With nearly three decades of work on the ground, PADF now manages a large portfolio of activities ranging from community-driven development to protecting human rights.

Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and has field offices in Haiti, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere. www.padf.org

Contact:

padf-dc@padf.org

Tel. (202) 458-3969

Donations: (877) 572-4484

www.PanAmericanRelief.org

Actor Jimmy Jean-Louis Reunited with Parents in Port-au-Prince

Says Haitian capital looks like the aftermath of a “war”

January 17, 2010 - Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Celebrity Jimmy Jean-Louis’s trek from Los Angeles into the earthquake ravaged city of Port-au-Prince ended with tears of relief late Saturday as he was reunited with his parents, who were still in shock after their home was reduced to rubble by the 7.0 earthquake.

For 24 hours following the Tuesday earthquake, Jimmy could not contact his parents in Port-au-Prince as the phone lines were dead. While reaching out to all of his contacts for information, Jimmy desperately tried to find a flight to Haiti – but did not have success with either.

He finally heard the good news on Wednesday night that they were alive, unhurt but in shock.

“This is good news but I have to get to them now,” Jimmy said after the call. “I cannot sit in Los Angeles while my parents are in shock and my countrymen are dying.”

Coordinating with the non-profit Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and his own non-profit Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH), Jimmy bought a ticket on a Friday night flight from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J. On Saturday morning, he changed planes and traveled from Newark to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where PADF has its staging operations for the relief effort.

PADF’s relief logistics coordinator met Jimmy at the Santo Domingo airport to tell him the bad news: Getting to Haiti that day was impossible since PADF’s relief caravan left eight hours earlier. Sunday looked better for the eight-hour drive or one-hour flight to Port-au-Prince.

“I tried to convince him to stay the night in Santo Domingo,” says Cesareo Guillermo, PADF’s logistics coordinator. “We realized his determination to go to Port-au-Prince” and began to look for an alternate means of transportation.

Though contacts at the airport, Guillermo discovered that a helicopter transporting supplies to Haiti was scheduled to depart for Port-au-Prince and it had one empty seat. Some 90 minutes later Jimmy was in the air.

On Sunday, Jimmy was relieved to see his family but overcome by the sheer destruction of Port-au-Prince.

“It looked like a war had happened,” he said.

PADF, HUFH and the Organization of American States (OAS) are collaborating on an outreach and relief effort for Haiti. Jimmy is the president and founder of the one-year-old HUFH. Jimmy is the celebrity spokesperson for the relief effort and PADF’s Goodwill Ambassador for Haiti’s Children.

Haiti relief donations may be made in English in the United States at (877) 572-4484; online in English atwww.PanAmericanRelief.org, in Spanish at www.AyudaPanamericana.org and in Portuguese at www.AjudaPanamericana.org.

About PADF

PADF is a non-profit organization established in 1962 to promote, facilitate, and implement social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past year, it had more than 5.6 million beneficiaries in 18 countries.

PADF is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Haiti. With nearly three decades of work on the ground, PADF now manages a large portfolio of activities ranging from community-driven development to protecting human rights.

Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and has field offices in Haiti, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere.http://www.padf.org/

About HUFH

Hollywood Unites For Haiti is a non-profit charitable aid organization based in Los Angeles that puts 100 percent of its donations directly into the cause of helping Haitian citizens and raising global awareness of ways in which people can help. HUFH has a special campaign to raise funds for the infrastructural rebuilding efforts that will be necessary in the coming months and years.

Jimmy Jean-Louis maintains: “It's not enough to keep band-aiding this – my – poorest of counties every few years in the worst of times. We need to keep a long term focus on the plight of the Haitian people until our goals are accomplished.” www.hufh.org and www.HaitianHero.com