11 Containers – Help!

Ways to Partner 2 Comments

 

Okay, Tom here, and we need your help.   Let me explain the numbers…..

There are 1,200,000 (or more) people in Haiti who are living under tarps and in tents.

Picture of the Day #12

The National Hurricane Center is predicting 11-16 “named” storms during the 2010 hurricane season.

“Named Storm” + “Living under a Tarp” does NOT equal a good situation.

GLA has 11 containers full of supplies for the Haitian people that are currently in Port Au Prince waiting to clear customs.

If my math is correct, that is 35,200 cubic feet of supplies waiting to be sorted and distributed.

To put that in perspective, that’s enough to fill nine 2 stall garages worth of supplies that are needed down there.

That’s right, that’s 9 of these stacked 8 foot high throughout the entire thing.

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So what do we need help with?   Let me lay it out:

  • It costs approximately $10,000 a month to have those containers sitting in Port waiting to clear customs.  
  • We don’t currently have space to store the 11 containers worth of goods until they can be sorted and distributed out of the weather (see note above about hurricanes).
  • So, this morning, the board decided, per John’s recommendations, to build a 35 x 50 pole barn at Ft. Jacques to be used as our distribution headquarters.

When does John want to begin construction?    He told me today that it will take a couple of days to get supplies, so he’d like to get started in a couple of days.

So, Tom, give me specifics, how can we help?

  • We need 4 to 8 strong guys who can come down to GLA and help John build the pole barn soon, like this week or next week.  It would be awesome if they were people who have experience building pole barns and construction, but John can train anyone who can use a hammer and has a strong back (sorry, that rules me out!)

IF YOU CAN HELP, E-Mail both me at tvanderwell@sbcglobal.net and also Jean Bell at jean@glahaiti.org and let us know when you can travel and then call Jean on Monday at 719-638-4348 to coordinate details.

  • Here are the main things that John said it would be good to bring down:
    • Hammers
    • Battery operated drills – and as many extra batteries as you can – so we can run a lot of sheet metal screws.
    • Metal siding screws – lots of them
    • 3 inch and 4 inch framing nails.

Now we realize that not everyone can drop everything and go to Haiti for a week or more, even though many of us would love to.   But I’ve got to believe that given the current state of the economy, there are a handful of guys who could manage a week or two.   We don’t need everyone, just four or five or six or seven or eight…..

But I also realize that many of the people who would have the time to help (and the skills) might not also have the ability to pay for the cost of flying down to GLA.

So, if you aren’t a builder who can help by going down and lending a hand, how about helping those who can by clicking on the chip-in at the bottom of this post and donating to help pay for the materials that are needed and the airfare to get the construction guys down to GLA?

Thanks in advance for what I know you’ll do to help us help in Haiti!

 

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