Queens residents rushed to aid in rescue and relief efforts for the victims of the killer quake in Haiti last week.
Media reports now put the number of dead around 200,000 and near three million injured or homeless.
One week after the 7.0 earthquake rocked the island nation, anxiety and high emotions continues to fill the atmosphere in Cambria Heights, a neighborhood with the largest concentration of Haitians, as residents struggle to learn about the whereabouts of their friends and loved ones.
“My family is okay. Everybody already called,” said Joselyne Heurtelou, inside a West Indian and Haitian grocery store on Springfield Boulevard off Linden Boulevard. “But my sister-in-law, she died in a hospital.”
Heurtelou’s sister-in-law, Gisliene Heurtelou, a doctor, died when her hospital collapsed in Port-au-Prince.
The owner of the store, Benet Bien Aime, and his wife have their three children in Port-au-Prince. After 48 frantic hours, they learned they had survived.
As communication lines are slowly restored news has begun to trickle into this community and the most important news is that the survivors need help and fast.
To assist in the immediate rescue needs of the Haitian population, 80 members of the joint NYPD-FDNY Urban Rescue Team flew down on Saturday, January 16 and quickly engaged in the rescue of three people trapped in a collapsed grocery store in Port-au-Prince, who had survived on the store’s food and water. They pulled two adult males and a teenage girl, 13, out on Sunday. That same afternoon the rescue team pulled a 55-year-old man trapped in a building.
“All of us in the FDNY are shocked and saddened by the devastation in Haiti,” said Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano. “Just as the world stood beside all of us after the tragic September 11th attacks, we know it’s our duty to help others crippled by disaster.”
However, with the second largest population of Haitians in the city, the residents of Queens have opened their wallets, closets and pantries to donate what they can to help the victims of the earthquake.
“Whenever there is a tragedy around the world, this borough is impacted,” said Borough President Helen Marshall at a gathering of local elected officials at the Cambria Heights organization Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP).
In southeastern Queens, in neighborhoods with the largest concentration of Haitian and Haitian-American, HAUP alongside with Councilmember Leroy Comrie will collect supplies to assist the victims.
“Already local shipping companies have agreed to donate barrels to my office, which will be used to ship donated supplies once citywide and national relief coordination has begun,” said Comrie.
Councilmember James Sanders and the Ad Hoc Committee to Save Haiti have also begun to accept donations for the relief efforts in Haiti at several drop-off locations.
But relief efforts have not been limited to Haitian communities. The desire to help has hit all corners of Queens.
The rodeo-themed bar Johnny Famous, located at 40-05 Bell Boulevard in Bayside, will hold a raffle at 9 p.m. on Friday, January 22, featuring prizes donated by other businesses like two memberships at Powerhouse Gym and tanning packages at Beach Bum tanning, said organizer Mike Hope.
Kostas Kantlis, owner of Plum Restaurant, located at 47-39 Bell Boulevard in Bayside, will donate all of its profits to the Red Cross to assist with the disaster relief in Haiti.
From Monday, January 25 through Wednesday, January 27, between the hours of 4 to 7 p.m., Plum will be offering complete dinner specials starting at $13.95. All dinner profits will be donated to the Red Cross.
On Monday, January 18 in Astoria, Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. and local community leaders collected batteries, flashlights, summer clothing, water, canned goods, sleeping bags, blankets, sheets and tents at the Trinity Lutheran Church. All items will be transported to the warehouse of the Haitian American Family Association of Long Island to ship to Haiti.
To also raise funds, Sunnyside Community Service will hold a bake sale on Friday, January 22 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 4 to 6 p.m at the Center for Active Older Adults, located at 43-31 39th Street. For more information call 718-784-6173, extension 431 or 419.
But most Haitians like Euphemie St. Juste-Remarus, a nurse who works with a clinic in Port-au-Prince that sustained little damage and wants to help it from New York, realize that Haiti will continue to need help weeks, months and years after the quake. She wants to return.
“The magnitude is so great that we haven’t seen anything like that before,” said Dr. Lionel Barrau, a nephrologist from Long Island of Haitian descent, who first lived in Queens when he arrived in 1968. “We appreciate all the help we can get.”
