Financial donations and prayer are the best ways to help the people of Haiti said New York state and city officials and local clergy at a noon press conference in Brooklyn on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the island on the previous afternoon, just before 5 p.m., about 10 miles southwest of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of residents were missing, many presumed dead, and Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, 65, archbishop of Port-au-Prince, was confirmed dead.
Fifteen hundred miles away in Flatbush, home to one of the largest Haitian populations outside Haiti, a bevy of elected officials and clergy gathered in the former school building at Holy Cross Church to express their grief and support for the Haitian people.
Governor David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Haitian-born Councilman Mathieu Eugene were among more than a dozen elected officials present.
Representing the Brooklyn Diocese were Haitian-born Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq and Father Donelson Thevenin, diocesan Haitian Apostolate coordinator.
While details about the extent of the devastation were still unknown, Mayor Bloomberg grimly said, “Every news account seems to be greater than we feared.”
He called the quake an “enormous tragedy” for the people of the island nation and the immense number of Haitians who have settled in the city.
Noting that New Yorkers know what it is to recover after a tragedy, he said that volunteer teams from the city’s police and fire departments are ready to be deployed to Haiti by the emergency management arm of the federal government if they are needed.
Quoting the motto on the Haitian flag, L'Union Fait La Force, which means “In Unity There Is Strength,” he pledged the support and prayers of New Yorkers. “As a city, we are more than ready to extend help,” he said.
While aid plans are being made on city, state and federal levels, officials said that average citizens could do their part by making monetary donations.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio's office has contacted pastors in Brooklyn and Queens about taking up collections for the people of Haiti at Masses this weekend, Jan 16-17.
Catholic Charities has also set-up a “mechanism for people to donate on our website,” which is www.ccbq.org, noted Cristina Grisham, Catholic Charities Brooklyn East community project director.
Calling Haitians “part of the great fabric of New York,” Gov. Paterson pledged that the state’s effort to aid Haiti would be “consistent and lasting.”
He said state officials have been in contact with federal agencies and his Deputy Secretary for Public Safety, Denise O'Donnell, is creating a registry of New Yorkers currently known to be in Haiti.
The U.S. State Department has also set up a toll-free hotline, 1-888-407-4747, to help people try to reach loved ones in Haiti.
Haiti “is the last place you want an earthquake,” said Police Commissioner Kelly, who worked in Haiti for a year in the 1990s. He was there last weekend and visited with President René Préval.
Although he called the people “inspirational, tough and gritty,” he noted that their homeland is “a place with preexisting conditions.” Issues, such as deforestation, poorly constructed buildings, limited medical supplies and daily electrical blackouts, have to make rescue and recovery efforts “a huge undertaking. … We need the help of the U.S. government. It’s the only entity that can make a dent in the problem.”
Bishop Sansaricq, who has family in Petionville, a Port-au-Prince suburb, added, “We have to face this calamity and tragedy and respond to the best of our abilities. We cannot allow ourselves to be overcome by emotion.”
Shown at press
conference announcing New York City's plans to aid earthquake ravaged Haiti
were, above, from left, Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansarciq, the only native born
Haitian ordained a bishop for the United States; NYC Commissioner for Planning
Joseph Bruno; Gov. David Paterson; City Council President Christine Quinn;
Police Commissoner Raymond Kelly, at the microphone; and Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. The conference was held
at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at Holy Cross parish auditorium in Flatbush, a
predominantly Haitian community.