By Chris Richburg
Rapper/producer Wyclef Jean is making moves to provide much needed resources for those affected by severe storms that have battered his native Haiti.
The former Fugees member has launched Haiti Storm Relief Fund, an effort designed to provide food, water, purification tablets, tents, blankets, medical supplies and hygiene kits to storm victims.
Jean’s Yele Haiti organization is also stepping up to assist the effort while working closely with the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The foundation, which incorporates projects that are designed to impact education, health, environment and community development, is also in consultation with the Haitian government's emergency management authorities.
Jean’s passion for helping Haiti goes deeper than short-term relief, according to the entertainer.
"My country is facing a serious catastrophe at the moment and we urgently require assistance," said Jean, who also serves as a Haitian goodwill ambassador. "But the long-term catastrophe is that we have less than two percent tree cover, and without restoring our forests we will always be susceptible to mudslides and flash floods from storms and hurricanes."
Efforts by Jean to aid Haiti come in response to Haitian President Rene Preval’s appeal to the international community for help as he labeled the country’s situation a "catastrophe".
In recent weeks, storms in Haiti have battered the country, leaving more than 500 people dead.
The devastation has affected more than 600,000 people who have been displaced by flooding or cut off from food supplies.
In addition to providing supplies and resources, the Haiti Storm Relief fund will provide funds to a number of nonprofit organizations that are working on the ground to respond to the emergency.
The Fund and Yele Haiti are among various projects Jean has taken part in to provide relief for Haitians.
In May, the rapper publicly launched Together for Haiti, a partnership with PADF and WFP in cooperation with Yele Haiti that was created as a response to the country’s food shortages and rioting.
Donations to help storm victims can be made online at www.yele.org.
