Alexandria, Arlington County reach out to help Haiti

By Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 4, 2010; VA18

The Arlington County and Alexandria communities are working on many levels to help earthquake victims in Haiti.

Schools are hosting fundraisers. A longtime humanitarian is working with a network of nonprofit groups to help rebuild a Port-au-Prince school. A relief organization sent volunteers and supplies to help within days of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Mary Callow, activities coordinator at Gunston Middle School in Arlington, said the students set a three-week goal to raise $3,000 to send three shelter boxes to Haiti. In slightly more than a week, they had raised $3,750 and set a new goal of $5,000 for the remainder of the period. The boxes, sent in cooperation with Rotary International, provide a tent, water purification tablets, dishes and other supplies for 10 people.

Carlos Rivas, 13, a Gunston student, visited Haiti during one of his annual trips to the Dominican Republic to visit family members.

"I felt like I had to do something," he said. "I think we've all come together and came up with different ways to raise money."

The students hosted a bake sale, fingernail painting at lunchtime and the very successful option of spending $1 to not "dress out" for physical education class, among other activities.

"The kids have dug deep into their pockets. I have hundreds of dollars in change," Callow said. "It is great to see their generosity of spirit and willingness to help the Haitian people. It is a good community thing."

Local and international community service is part of Gunston's mission, said Harry Costner, a teacher and adviser to the student-run television studio. His students created a video of the school's efforts and recorded student greetings to the Haitian community, charging $1 per person.

Gunston is not alone. Students at Wakefield High also are raising money for the boxes. Nottingham Elementary's Parent Teacher Association is collecting bathroom and sanitary supplies to send with Medical Missionaries, a Northern Virginia organization. Several more schools are offering fun activities, such as paying $1 to wear a hat in school, which is usually not allowed, and donating the proceeds to the American Red Cross, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and other organizations.

Before the earthquake, members of the Alexandria Sheriff's Office had begun fundraising for an organization its spokesman supports.

Harry Covert has a long history of making humanitarian efforts with causes around the world and is chairman of the board for the World Emergency Relief United Kingdom, a nonprofit organization that helps bring food, medical supplies and other relief to impoverished areas.

Covert began sending containers of supplies to Haiti after his first visit there in 1981. In an October trip, Covert and World Emergency Relief agreed to feed 150 students at the Good Samaritan School in Cite Soleil, a Port-au-Prince slum.

"I never broadcast to everybody what I was doing. I didn't even tell the sheriff," said Covert, who never asked for donations from colleagues because he "didn't want to overstep my bounds."

But coworker Rony Wise, the department's director of records, heard about Covert's newest mission and began to raise funds. The effort took on new force after the earthquake.

When he heard from Good Samaritan's principal, Covert learned that the school had been destroyed. Several more days passed before Covert received news that all 150 students were safe, but many of their family members were not as lucky.

"You see the pictures from October and then you see the destruction now. It really is not that much different," said Covert, who was amazed at how many of his colleagues dropped off checks at his office. He was able to deposit some $7,000 into the school principal's bank account to help purchase necessities.

World Emergency Relief and International Relief and Development, an Arlington-based relief organization, partnered as they had in the past, to get medical and pharmaceutical supplies into the country.

Corporations will donate supplies to International Relief and Development, said the organization's director of acquisitions and logistics, Jim Lanning. Covert's contacts could have infrastructure on the ground or the ability to ship those supplies to the necessary destination, he said.

"We all work together just to make it happen," Lanning said.

International Relief and Development had a team working to supply other areas of Haiti with water, improve sanitation and provide shelter. As of last week, it had about 8 million medical, pharmaceutical and other supply items on their way to Haiti.

Donations will continue to be accepted for when the media attention on Haiti dies down and the rebuilding must begin.

"If we can get a lot of people to do a little, we can make a big change in people's lives," Covert said.