Minnesotans helping Haiti

St. Paul students donated their LEGOs and Barbie dolls for a used toy sale at school this week, sending the $1,118 earned to the children of Haiti.

Vietnamese immigrants hosted an event featuring traditional music, food and a slide show showing the parallels between the Vietnamese "boat people" and their Haitian friends. Total raised: more than $20,000.

The suit-and-tie crowd sampled wine and chocolate at the Minikahda Country Club Friday night to sweeten the budgets of well-drilling and clean water delivery projects in Haiti.

One month after Haiti was devastated by an earthquake, donations for the impoverished nation show no sign of slowing in Minnesota, say area nonprofits providing emergency relief. Minnesotans continue to write out checks big and small, and do-it-yourself fundraisers are taking off across the state.

Americans have donated more than $644 million to Haiti since the Jan. 12 catastrophe, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Minnesota's share hasn't been sorted out, but Twin Cities organizations report they've collectively taken in at least $6 million. It's the tip of the iceberg, because the figure doesn't count the millions sent directly to the big national relief groups such as UNICEF or the American Red Cross.

Local philanthropic foundations and corporations also have opened their vaults. The Medtronic Foundation, for example, has pledged $1.2 million in cash to rebuild hospitals and clinics and $900,000 in medical products such as rods and hooks for spinal surgery for quake victims.

"Pretty much everything is Haiti, Haiti, Haiti," said Annette Bauer, spokesperson for the area Salvation Army, an organization not even known for its Haiti work. "We have received $262,000 from givers ... and we just received word that a local foundation is sending a check of at least $100,000. Every penny will go to Haiti."

Even small charities are getting big donations. Healing Haiti of White Bear Lake found itself with "hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Jeff Gacek, executive director.

Do-it-yourself fundraisers

Spontaneous fundraising is breaking out all over.

A young girl in south Minneapolis set up a lemonade stand in the snow last weekend, with her mom waving a poster toward passing traffic that said, "HELP HAITI."

A hardy group of folks took the "Polar Plunge" at Fish Lake Regional Park in Maple Grove two weeks ago to help fund well-drilling and water delivery.

On Wednesday, perhaps the youngest philanthropists worked a used toy sale in the cafeteria at Expo Elementary School in St. Paul. The 700-some students each donated a toy, which was sold to other students.

"I've been in the hospital and have had IVs in my arms ... and it's miserable," said Espen Martinson, a fourth-grader who was inspired by the images of wounded Haitian children. "I thought I should help other people who need help."

Fundraising aside, Minnesotans have been eager to fly to Haiti and help, said Dale Snyder, executive director of the Minnetonka-based Haiti Outreach, which has 25 permanent staff in Haiti.

"We've been inundated with volunteers," said Snyder. "But there's not a lot they can do right now. They can't lift up entire cement buildings. That's why we encourage them to do fundraising."

How the money is used

American Refugee Committee has established medical clinics in Port au Prince and near the border of the Dominican Republic, has distributed food, medical supplies and shelter materials, and created safe places for children to play.

Haiti Outreach spent several weeks running a water truck through Port-au-Prince, drilling wells and helping repair water and electrical systems to the city's General Hospital. The group has now been asked to develop a plan to repair city water systems for the nearby towns of Gran Goave, Leogane and Gressier.

Healing Haiti, along with a sister organization called Reiser Relief, have also been distributing food and up to 84,000 gallons of water a week to refugee tent camps and a slum of Port-au-Prince called Cite Soleil. It's now working to add a "second shift" to a school it runs in a town north of the capital, to serve students from a nearby school that was turned to rubble.

The Rev. Bernard Reiser, founder of Reiser Relief based in Coon Rapids, has been helping Haitians for decades. The plight of the Haitian people clearly has touched Minnesotans, he said.

"People don't just happen to be generous," Reiser said. "They have to be inspired. That's what's happened here."