Six months ago, we hosted a charity fundraiser with the Cafe String Quartet to benefit Mercy Corps, a charity organization with extensive experience responding to international disaster. Gracious donations from Counter Culture Coffee, Pisgah Brewing, Green Man Brewing, and many others complimented the wonderful chamber music offered by the Cafe String Quartet. Combined with our donations of the space and chocolates, the wonderfully generous Asheville community managed to raise over $1500 in a single evening. This money went to immediate relief concerns in Haiti such as fresh water, tools for rubble clearing, food stuffs, waste treatment systems, as well as wages for Haitians receiving temporary jobs cleaning up after the disaster.
I thought it would be a good time to check in and see what progress has been made in Haiti, and hopefully reawaken awareness of Haiti’s ongoing relief and reconstruction efforts. The effects of this earthquake on one of the world’s poorest countries will be felt for years to come, and we all must remember that relief is only the first step in the road to reconstruction.
