Desperadoes in Haiti relief drive

Story taken from the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

The members of Desperadoes Steel Orchestra will today begin packing a container with supplies to be sent to Haiti, and are also mobilising to assist in the recovery of Matelot.

Secretary of the steel orchestra Havilanna Davidson told Newsday that it has partnered with the El Dorado East Lions Club which also gave substantial contributions. 

Yesterday members of the club dropped off several bags of rice, peas and other supplies at Desperadoes headquarters on Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain. 

Since the drive began a few weeks ago, Davidson said that Desperadoes has been making its own contributions and members of the public have begun donating. 

Donations include canned foods, water, toiletries, baby stuff, and clothing mainly for women and children. 

The response for help for Haiti, she said, has been overwhelming. 

They are partnering with an organisation in Haiti to distribute the supplies to areas that are most in need. The disaster-prone country was hit by Hurricane Matthew in October, after it was trying to recover from the 2010 massive earthquake that killed over 250,000 and left hundreds of thousands, homeless. 

As soon as the supplies have been sent off, Davidson said, Desperadoes will be turning its attention to get relief for the people in Matelot and other affected areas. 

In the meantime, she said, that members were interested in assisting in the clean up and recovery of the area. 

The idea to provide humanitarian assistance was put forward by the Desperadoes manager, Curtis Edwards, who was in Miami when Matthew was barreling its way through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States.