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Three weeks after a devastating 7.0
magnitude earthquake in Haiti, the relief effort soldiers on, as organizations
from around the world continue to care for injured survivors, feed, clothe, and
house the hungry and homeless, and assess the best way to rebuild the shattered
country. And while an outpouring of generosity from the American public raised
over $500 million in less than a week through various charities, the long-term
effort looms large and will require continued efforts on the part of those
anxious to help.
Luckily, a host of East Coasters has
pressed ahead with grassroots ideas to assist the survivors of the earthquake. ESM Senior Photographer Rich McMullin
pulled the behind-the-scenes strings to get a Help For Haiti silent auction
going for Thursday, February 18th at Steve & Cookie’s By The Bay in
Margate, NJ. “The plan is for an art auction/ raffle starting at 6:30 p.m. to
raise funds for the relief efforts,” McMullin said. “We want to try and
assemble a crew to go down to Haiti in another month or so when it turns into
more of a rebuilding effort, but in the meantime, the fundraiser is a go.”
McMullin, who has received help from
Jersey event kingpin Nick Bricker and ESM Assignment Writer Jon Coen, plans to auction off photographs, paintings,
books, sculptures, CDs, DVDs, and whatever else they can get their hands on.
“Matix, DVS, and Billabong hooked us up with a few boxes, and Jerry Ricciotti
sent copies of his DVD Spectacular
Adventures!,” McMullin said. “And I’ve gotten wonderful responses so far
from other photographers and artists like Ryan Miller, Nick LaVecchia, Jack
Ryan, Trevor Moran, and Jamie Kelly.” In addition to the raffle, food will be
provided by Steve & Cookie’s, with live music coming from DJ Sparkles.
If you can’t make it to the
fundraiser on February 19th but would like to contribute goods to the raffle,
you can contact McMullin at 856-979-8622 or rich.mcmullin@mac.com. In addition to
the New Jersey-based efforts, the NSSA Southeast Conference has teamed up with
DNA Energy Drink to denote their first three contests of 2010 “Surf For Haiti”
events. “The goal is to encourage people to shop within their homes and donate
T-shirts, surf trunks, pants, and shoes for the children of Haiti,” NSSA
Southeast Conference Director Danielle Beckmann said. “Somewhere, each of
us has a few items that we can afford to give up. “We may be a small
group, but together this simple effort will make a difference for some well
deserving kids.”
Donations will be accepted at the
third NSSA Southeast event, planned for February 21st-22nd at Pelican Park in
Satellite Beach, FL. Again, if you can’t attend the contest, contact Beckmann
at nssasoutheast@yahoo.com to schedule
donation drop-offs. And if you can’t make the New Jersey fundraiser or the
Florida NSSA contests, you can always contribute to ongoing Haiti relief
efforts by visiting Pazapa (www.siloe.org), Share Our
Strength (www.strength.org), or the
American Red Cross (www.redcross.org). No matter how
little or how much help you can give, the important thing to remember is that we
can all assist in some way.
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