Elmont’s relief effort for Haitian quake continues one year later

One year ago, hundreds of thousands of people were killed by an earthquake that hit Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and created several aftershocks in the weeks following its initial strike. The Jan. 12, 2010, disaster spurred a global effort to send donations to the afflicted country, and in Elmont, the relief operation is still under way.

According to the U.S. Census, more than 16,000 Haitians live in Nassau County, and Elmont is home to one of Long Island’s largest populations. A year ago, many Long Island organizations were working to provide clothing, food and monetary donations for Haiti.

A group in Elmont, Haiti Relief Effort, is continuing its efforts on behalf of victims of the disaster. David Duchatellier, who heads the organization, said that it has been supporting Haiti since long before the earthquake.

In 2007, Duchatellier’s cousins raised money to build School of Masson-Sion in a borough of Port-au-Prince. Soon afterward, Duchatellier began working closely with Haitian school workers to deliver food there, and he established Haiti Relief Effort in 2008.

Since the quake, the group has sent nearly 140 barrels of donated materials, weighing 400 to 1,000 pounds each, to the school to distribute to families. “It’s not just Elmont — we get stuff from all over. I get things from Manhattan and New Jersey, too,” Duchatellier said, adding that the group does not collect many monetary donations, but instead gathers food, clothing, school supplies and other needed materials to send to Haiti. “In 2010 we received a lot of food in order to combat hunger, but now we are receiving mostly clothing.”

Duchatellier, who is of Haitian decent and has family there, said he lost a young cousin to the earthquake. He said that Haiti Relief Effort received a huge response from the community in January and February of 2010. “It was a tremendous effort,” he said. “My house happens to be right by the [Elmont Memorial High] school, so it worked very well. The school was helping to store barrels and stuff them, and teachers from the school donated money.”

Donations have slowed down significantly since then, however, he said.

Sam Kille, director of public relations for the American Red Cross in Nassau County, said the organization collected an enormous amount of money in the months after the disaster. So much, in fact, that it stopped soliciting donations. “The outpouring of generosity was just so big afterwards that we had more than enough,” Kille said, explaining that the Red Cross raised $479 million nationally for earthquake relief, and $4 million of that came from Long Island.

“At the Red Cross, we go into an area of a disaster, we determine what the needs are and we buy the things that are needed,” Kille said. “We are confident that we received enough money for the country’s infrastructure, and for food and clean water.”

According to the Red Cross, it provided medical care for nearly 217,000 people, cash grants and loans for 220,000, latrines for 265,000, daily drinking water for more than 317,000, emergency shelter for more than 860,000, vaccinations for nearly 1 million and food for 1.3 million for one month. Kille said that in the months after the quake, several Haitians came to Long Island and received further help from community members. One earthquake survivor even became a Red Cross volunteer, he added.

“It was amazing here, on a local level, to see the amount of people that were constantly coming into our office and dropping off money,” Kille recalled. “It was amazing to see the amount of people who came out during such a terrible moment. We’re living in a depressed economy, and people still open up their wallets and their hearts to people they don’t even know.”

For his part, Duchatellier said he plans to provide relief to Haiti indefinitely. “Haiti always needs help, so basically, if we keep getting stuff, we will find a way to get it down there,” he said. “Haiti Relief Effort is here, and we will continue to help as long as we can, as long as we can keep getting people to help us out.”

Recently, Duchatellier said, Haiti Relief Effort’s work has been stifled by shipping costs. Each barrel costs $100 to ship, he explained, and in the months following the disaster he received several donations for shipping from coworkers at his full-time job, as a senior staff engineer at ITT Corporation in North Amityville. However, funding has diminished. “I still have about 10 bags of clothing in my office that I’m waiting to ship,” he said, adding that he and his family have paid for much of the shipping.

He has recently been working to find ways to reduce shipping costs. After talking with several local politicians, he was told he needed to register with the United States Agency for International Development, but hasn’t “heard a peep from anyone” since he registered in March, he said.

Every so often, Duchatellier said, he receives photos from Haitian students and those in the surrounding community who have received aid from the group. “They help us know we are doing the right thing,” he said.

Anyone interested in contributing to Haiti Relief Effort can contact Duchatellier at (917) 561-1687 or (781) 527-8594.