Local volunteers headed for Haiti

HAYMARKET, VA. -- Volunteers from the Haymarket-based Helping Haitian Angels planned to travel to Haiti this weekend long before an earthquake devastated the small island.

Now, after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday, the trip is still on, but the work the local volunteers will do may have changed.

Helping Haitian Angels, founded in 2008 by members of Park Valley Church in Haymarket and Sudley United Methodist Church in Catharpin, operates an orphanage for about 40 children in Cap Hatien, a small town on the north side of the island.

Volunteers planned to travel there this weekend to build a playground at the orphanage, paint a nearby church and complete other small projects, Haymarket resident Debbie Harvey, one of the group’s founders, said.

The group hopes to still complete some of those projects, but may also help earthquake victims now, she said.

“My guess is many people who are hurt and sick and injured are going to go to Cap Hatien for help,” Harvey said. “So what I think is that our efforts will be needed to help them.”

Four volunteers from the Haymarket group planned to leave for Haiti on Thursday.

“They’re going to assess the situation and, provided everything looks safe, we have 27 more volunteers ready to go down there,” Harvey said.

Most of the earthquake damage is in Port-au-Prince, but some effects of the quake were felt in Cap Hatien, about 80 miles away.

“They did feel the quake so I would imagine that communication, travel and the limited amenities they have are scarce and a mess,” Centreville resident April Farms, with Helping Haitian Angels, said in an e-mail. “As far as I know the kids are OK as well as our staff.”

Since news of the earthquake hit, many people in the Haymarket and Gainesville area have contacted Helping Haitian Angels to find out how they can help, Harvey said.

“We’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of e-mails and calls,” Harvey said. “It’s heartwarming that people just want to help.”

Helping Haitian Angels is directing anyone who wants to help to donate money to any of the national or international relief funds that have been setup to help the earthquake victims.

Donations made to Helping Haitian Angels will also be used to help the earthquake victims, Harvey said.

“I’m telling people that if they want to make a donation, do it at our Web site. We’ll be taking the money directly there to buy food and water for people who need it,” Harvey said.

For more information about Helping Haitian Angels or to make a donation, visit helpinghaitianangels.org.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.