The need in Haiti remains: How you can help this holiday season and beyond

(ARA) - As is true with many catastrophes, the tragic story makes international news in the immediate days following, and there is an outpouring of support and aid to those in need. However, soon good-hearted contributors have donated all they can, while bureaucratic red tape begins to impede progress, and the story fades from the headlines. In the end, the basic needs of those affected still remain.

This is the case in Haiti. Approximately eight months after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck 15 miles outside of Port-au-Prince, killing 200,000 and destroying 300,000 houses, the needs of the Haitian people remain. Although there was a tremendous international response in the aftermath of the disaster, little has been done to bring meaningful relief to the people. Almost all the rubble from collapsed buildings remains uncleared, and approximately 1.5 million people are still living in tent camps or under tarps without water, electricity, or sewage facilities.

Despite bureaucratic red tape, some companies, missions and individuals have recognized the ongoing need and have found creative ways to help on their own. Here are a couple inspiring stories:

Last April, Binghamton, N.Y.-based Johnson Outdoors Gear LLC, maker of Eureka! tents, launched Sheltering Haiti 2010, a social media campaign that used the company's presence on Facebook to get the word out about its tent drive for Haiti. The campaign was to benefit the OASIS Institute and the 650 orphaned Haitian children it would house, many of whom were living on the streets. The OASIS Institute proposed to house, educate and care for these orphans through a new, holistic Haiti-based approach to adoption.

An "adopt a child at a distance program," the OASIS Institute enables Haitian children orphaned during the earthquake to be raised in their home country via subsidies by individual sponsors whose monthly donations fulfill ongoing needs such as food, shelter and education. While it aimed to be fully operational within one year, the Institute was in need of interim housing via a tent village -- the OASIS Camp -- currently under construction in Tabarre near Port-au-Prince.

Johnson Outdoors Gear shipped 100 tents -- each one providing temporary shelter for four children -- for the tent village and has plans to ship another 100 tents imminently. "We are very excited about expanding our involvement in relief efforts for Haiti," says Bill Kelly, general manager of Johnson Outdoors Gear. "We urge all our consumers and their friends to 'like' Eureka! on Facebook and make a difference." The effort was made in conjunction with citizen volunteer Jenny Dubin, who contacted the company after witnessing firsthand the devastation and need to do more to help. Dubin served as liaison on the ground between Johnson Outdoors and the OASIS Institute.

Last May, in nearby Milford, Pa., the parishioners of St. Patrick's Church had a similar experience when Rev. Gerald Mullally turned 60. In lieu of receiving gifts for himself, he requested that anyone in his congregation wishing to give a gift instead make a donation to help those in Haiti. His congregation raised more than $12,000 to help rebuild the parish of Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours in Fragneau-Ville in Port-au-Prince. Invited to visit that parish, Rev. Mullally and six of his parishoners went to Haiti to help in whatever way they could.

After witnessing the devastation firsthand, the parishioners returned home, formed Hands of Mary for Haiti (www.handsofmaryforhaiti.org) and established plans to send future missions that will include medical teams, electricians, and other professionals to help rebuild the devastated areas. "The church is the only agency that stands a chance of getting these people what they need," Rev. Mullally says. "Governmental help is not forthcoming. The parish is the source of their housing, food and medical care. No one else provides it."

How you can help

Participation in the Eureka! Sheltering Haiti 2010 campaign is free. Simply click to "like" the Eureka! Facebook page. For every 20 "likes" the Eureka! page receives and for every five pictures or videos (optional) posted to the page, one tent will be donated to the OASIS camp in Haiti until the company's goal of 200 tents has been reached. Johnson Outdoors Gear stresses that the tents will ship regardless of the success of the Facebook campaign. For more information, visit www.eurekatent.com/haiti.

Donations for Hands of Mary for Haiti can be sent to Rev. Gerald Mullally, Hands of Mary for Haiti, P.O. Box W, Milford, PA 18337.