Water for Haiti

Full Article

Water for Haiti

By Glenn Burkins – March 31, 2010

Font Size:

Share:

Two days after a massive earthquake leveled the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, 16-year-old Brandon Santiago of Charlotte sat watching the devastation on TV, wondering how he might help.

Then the junior at Charlotte Country Day School got an idea. He decided to rally his schoolmates to collect bottled water for the quake survivors.

On Wednesday, a group of students at Charlotte Country Day used part of their lunch beak to load more than 200 cases of water into the back of a large white truck. The cargo will be shipped the Haiti by Hope Ministry, an Atlanta church.

Santiago, who plans a career in business or psychology, said deciding to get involved was easy.

“I thought if I were in their place what it would be like,” he recalled. “It feels good to help other people who are less fortunate.”

Santiago (insert) said that days after seeing the quake’s aftermath, he returned to school and appealed for help at a student assembly. As the cases of water piled up, volunteers stored them in the school’s student center.

Meanwhile, his mother, Gwendolyn Dodson, was brainstorming how to get the water to the people in need. She called the Salvation Army, which put her in touch with a Rock Hill-based charity called Helping Hands of Carolina.

Marie Simon, president of Helping Hands, and Martha Dejean, CFO and vice president, are both Haitian and had begun to mobilize other relief efforts.
The women said Wednesday that although the media spotlight has faded from Haiti, the need for assistance has not diminished.

“The rebuilding of Haiti is not going to happen in one day,” Dejean said. “It’s a long process. We have to stay there as long as Haiti needs to rebuild.”

The water drive was not the school’s only charity event with an international focus. Students at Charlotte Country Day also have set out to raise $5,000 for Opportunity International, which makes micro-loans in developing countries so that entrepreneurs can start small businesses.

So far, the students have raised about $4,000, said Alexa Garfinkle and Katherine Shor, both juniors. Earlier Wednesday, 230 students each paid $10 to take part in a 30-minute walk-a-thon.

Even the school’s youngest students got involved, raising about $500 in loose change, the girls said.

Dodson, Santiago’s mother, said she was pleased to see her son show concern for others.

“I’m extremely proud of all of them,” she said of the entire student body. “It’s giving back, and that’s very important for the young people. It’s a life lesson.”

***
In the photo below, Charlotte Country Day School students and volunteers load cases of bottled water collected for Haitian earthquake survivors onto a truck, March 31, 2010. (Photo: Qcitymetro.com)