By Carol McCracken  (Post # 370)

Earlier this afternoon, Mayor Nicholas Mavodones issued a letter to the residents of the city of Portland expressing his shock at the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday.  “As with any tragedy like this, our hearts go out to the men, women and children lost or in pain”

The Mayor explained that Portland has a connection to Haiti.  “Portland is uniquely tied to Haiti through its sister city relationship with Cap-Haitien, a community in northern Haiti.  This relatsionship came about in part from the work of Portland’s nonprofit, Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership, which supports  health and medical programs as well as other public health projects in the northern part of the country.”  The letter goes on to say that Cap-Haitien did not suffer major physical damage from the earthquake, although the entire country is being affected by this disaster.

To get to the heart of the letter, if you are wondering how you might contribute to the on-going major humanitarian efforts to assist, Haiti, Mayor Mavodones has several suggestions:

1.  A collection effort is underway at the City Manager’s office in City Hall where charitable donations can be made to Konbit Sante’s Earthquake Response Fund.

2. People can also make donations online to the American Red Cross, International Response Fund at www.redcross.org or Doctors W ithout Borders at www.doctorswithout borders.org

3.  All proceeds from Sunday’s 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Concert at Merrill Aujditorium will be donated to relief efforts.  For those interested, tickets can be purchased at the box office at Merrill Auditorium.  

In conclusion, the Mayor wrote:  “As you know, Portland is a deeply compassionate, caring comunity and if we can help alleviate the pain for our brothers and sisters in Cap-Haitien, we will. Our city motto, Resurgam means – I will rise again and I know that today, Portland, will rise to the occasion.”