Hawken for Haiti Relief Effort Launched

Hawken School has just launched a school-wide initiative to support victims of the earthquake in Haiti, with all funds raised to be donated to two organizations: medWish and Partners in Health. This is not the first time Hawken has partnered with medWish, a Cleveland-based organization that collects medical supplies and ships them to developing countries. Students in Hawken`s lower, middle and upper school divisions have supported the efforts of medWish through various service projects. Moreover, one of Hawken Upper School`s four "houses" (to which each student is assigned for the purpose of building community, spirit, and service learning initiatives) has committed to long-term collaboration with medWish for volunteering, fund raising and awareness-building. Todd McCormack, Hawken class of `78, founded Partners in Health along with Paul Farmer and other Harvard students in 1987 in response to the health needs of rural Haiti. The book Mountains beyond Mountains, which has been required summer reading for Hawken Upper School students in the past, chronicles the initiative of Dr. Paul Farmer, who still runs the program in Haiti. Dr. Farmer has been interviewed on the networks since the earthquake, and Partners in Health has been one of the organizations highlighted by various fund raising initiatives, including this past Friday`s MTV`s Hope for Haiti telethon concert. Hawken students and teachers in every division continue to make plans for supporting the relief effort, not just for the short-term but in the long run as well. To date, the following fundraisers have taken place or are being planned: *Middle school students raised over $800 on January 21 through a dress-down day to support earthquake victim. *All ticket proceeds from the men`s basketball game on Friday, January 22nd have been directed to Hawken for Haiti *The upper school Field Ecology class addressed the student body about the situation in Haiti and held a bake sale fundraiser on January 26. *Ticket proceeds from the second performance of Footloose will be directed to Hawken for Haiti *A Coffee House will be held on Friday, January 29th to benefit Haiti. Details are available on HawkNet. In addition to these events, efforts to energize and catalyze community-wide participation include "Hawken for Haiti" t-shirt sales and Ansel House-sponsored volunteer sessions at medWish, which are open to all Hawken students, families, teachers and staff.