Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

  • If you’d like to make a donation to relief efforts in Haiti, here are some possibilities, including several with Middlebury connections:

American Red Cross:
Donate at the Web site, or give $10 by using your cell phone to text HAITI to 90999

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund:
Donate at the Web site, or give $10 by texting QUAKE to 20222

Partners in Health:
Founded by Paul Farmer, who gave a talk on campus in February 2009

St. Boniface Hospital in Haiti:
Also, read a letter from Conor Shapiro, Class of 2003, general director at St. Boniface in Fond des Blancs, Haiti, 65 miles north of Port-Au-Prince

Save the Children:
Headed up by Charles MacCormack, Class of ‘63

Vermont Haiti Project:
A small NGO based in Burlington, Vt.

I am pleased to share the efforts of many on campus in response to the events in Haiti:
 

  • $1,755 was raised at the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration concert, Let Freedom Ring!, on January 18. These donations have been split between Partners in Health and the Red Cross, specifically for the work those organizations are doing in response to the earthquake in Haiti.
  • About 100 students, faculty and staff gathered on January 19 to reflect on the tragic events and begin to plan actions to take.
  • More than $5,000 has been collected through student fund raising efforts; currently, $4,000 of these funds have been donated to Partners In Health.

Events for the coming week, now confirmed, include:

Student Task Force
January 23, 7 p.m.
LaForce Conference Room
The Pan Caribbean Student Organization is hosting an open meeting for students interested in forming a task force to lead the campus in efforts to raise money for and increase awareness of Haiti, its rich culture and heritage, the current crisis, and how we can help. Participants will share ideas and begin planning these initiatives.Anyone interested may contact Ariel Smith ‘11 or Daniel Khan ‘11.

Student/Faculty Panel Discussion:
“Haiti Beyond the Headlines”
January 26, 4:30 p.m.
Dana Auditorium
Panelists include Daniel Khan ‘11; Mona Quarless ‘12; Ariel Smith ‘11; Jeffrey Lunstead, Diplomat in Residence; Leticia Arroyo-Abad, assistant professor of Economics and International Politics and Economics; and Sarah Stroup, visiting assistant professor of Political Science. Darién Davis, associate professor of History and director of Latin American Studies, will moderate. This event is free and open to the public.

Student Research on Donating
January 28, 1-2:30 p.m.
Monroe Lecture Hall
Students in Professor Sarah Stroup’s winter term course, “Charitable Action at Home and Abroad,” will help educate the campus about who is working in Haiti in a presentation entitled, “Haiti: Identifying Needs, Crafting a Response.” The students will present their research with detailed information on five prominent aid organizations active in Haiti-Yele, UNICEF, Partners in Health, Habitat for Humanity, and CARE International-as part of a mock grant competition for donations to Haiti. Short presentations on each group will be followed by an interactive poster session.

I hope you will support these events as we strive to better understand the situation in Haiti and identify ways to demonstrate our support. I especially thank those who have come forward and been instrumental in the planning process. Given the scale of the crisis, the need for our efforts will continue in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Ronald D. Liebowitz
President, Middlebury College