Local North Florida Haiti Relief Includes John Travolta, Country Music Stations?

My last article about the earthquake in Haiti could be seen as, well, cynical. It discussed efforts but pointed out more what needed to be done or what lacked. This time I take a look at local relief-- for me, this means North-North Central Florida. In the Gainesville, Florida area, Haitian relief is coming from some surprising and some impressive sources. This is the brighter side of the relief efforts for the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

Ocala resident John Travolta flew himself to Haiti today in his personal Boeing 707 aircraft to come to the aid of the people affected by the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Known for being an enthusiastic pilot, Travolta brought six tons of supplies in his plane, including food and medical necessities. With him were his wife Kelly Preston as well as doctors and Scientology ministers. Wow! This is quite impressive, although I understand that the food situation is so dire, that whenever supplies are delivered, rioting erupts and any attempts to bring order are completely overwhelmed by mobbing crowds. It's left the troops from various countries coming to aid in tears at the state of it. Mr. Travolta has done a good thing, but is there any way we can massively increase the amount of help coming in to relieve Haiti?

A local country station is an interesting source of pleas for Haiti relief-- 93.7K. Why is this surprising? It's an answer that is awkward at best for me, based in generalizations, and that is that a certain amount of prejudice is expected from the country-loving community. Usually country music fans of the South are quick to promote that our country needs aid over some poor, third world country (especially if it's mainly black). I know this is a controversial explanation but it is not based on fiction, it's just how things are sometimes. These generalities are not a factor at the present I am proud to state, as 93.7K's website has a large section in the middle of their home page devoted to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief, featuring a "donate now" button. This leads me to believe that the station airs humanitarian efforts on the radio as well (I wouldn't know-- I'm not a listener). But Elizabeth, you might say, isn't that prejudiced of you to assume that this community would turn a blind eye to Haiti in their hour of need? I recognize how that looks, but consider that just today someone I spoke to informed me that he gets called a "fag" for caring about Haiti. When I asked him why, he told me that he thinks it's because they don't care about Haiti due to racial issues. Sadly, this exists. I am happy to see the support of Haiti disaster awareness from what unfortunately seemed like an unlikely source.

In Florida, there were thousands of people returning home from living in or visiting Haiti. The American Red Cross and the Florida Department of Children and families apparently had a setup to allow people just coming in to rest and eat. It is sad to think of those left behind in Haiti. This is great, though, for those who are arriving in America as surely rescue could not arrive soon enough for any of them.

What's next? So much could and should be done, if only we would be bold and step outside of convention. This can only be done by people in power. Two things would help immensely. One, is for airplane landing space to be "pioneered", since about 800 planes are waiting to bring aid-- yet Haiti can only accommodate at present 130 or so a day! We need to eliminate the animalistic mobs taking over whenever relief shipments come by decreasing desperation in the form of increased amounts of aid. Two, is for the hundreds of thousands of Haitian orphans be expedited through a humanitarian-focused adoption process rather than the long, drawn out, expensive affair which adoption and international adoption usually entails. If you can find a loving family who passes psychological exams and has a willing space in their home for a child, fill it. What's the wait for? For Haitian orphans, isn't something better than nothing? Who makes these rules when children are on the streets?

So whether you're John Travolta and the Scientologists, the country music stations of our region, or the national and statewide organizations designed to assist people in the first place, awareness of Haiti two weeks after the earthquake is finally at a place that looks hopeful to me. Please, if you have nothing else to give except a small monetary donation, visit the American Red Cross site and give what you can. If you have nothing to give at all, circulate this article-- Associated Content is contributing funds based on the amount of page views this piece receives. It's evident that much, much more needs to be done, but we can all play a part in the Haitian earthquake relief.