Donations boxed, promises unmet

It is a warehouse of good intentions, a large industrial space in East Camden filled almost to the rafters with relief items for Haiti earthquake victims.

In the building sit hundreds of boxes of clothes and baby shoes, canned goods and water, syringes and medical supplies - even pacifiers, crutches, and wheelchairs. And more donations arrive daily.

Almost everything is ready to ship, but local Haitians who organized the relief effort are struggling to get the goods to those who need them back home.

In the days following the January earthquake, when images of the devastation played across televisions, do-gooders and New Jersey officials pledged to help the group ship donations.

But as time passed and attention faded, most of those promises have gone unfilled.

Now, boxes are piling up, and it is unclear how much longer the group will be able to use the donated warehouse.

"We are desperate," Eliezer Marcellus, 27, said recently, standing among the donations. "We want to get this stuff to Haiti."

The donations could probably be sent in one or two cargo planes or in a small transport ship, Marcellus estimated.

While praising the group's efforts, Jim Coutré of the Philanthropic Initiative, an international organization that advises on how to increase the impact of charitable giving, said that even if the group were able to secure private transport, it might interfere with ongoing aid efforts.

The roads in Haiti are clogged, the infrastructure devastated, and now comes the rainy season, Coutré said. Major organizations such as the United Nations and Red Cross are struggling with their own relief efforts, he said.

"Their intent is wonderful," he said of the Camden group. "But first, I would have advised them to give money. . . . Now, I would tell them to contact major aid organizations to tell them what they have and to see if they need it."

The donation drive began the day after the earthquake, when 50 Haitian parishioners gathered at Camden's Hope Memorial Baptist Church.

They felt powerless. So many of their loved ones were dead and dying. Those at the meeting wanted to do something more visceral than writing a check.

Marcellus shared his friends' grief and sense of helplessness. Ten of his relatives were killed when the earth shook.

"We had to do something on our own," he said.

Many in the local Haitian community were already stockpiling supplies to ship home later.

One woman, Joseleine Monace, 27, a Wal-Mart manager from Lindenwold, had pallets of water her company donated.

Another woman, Daphney Bonneau, 26, a college student from Stratford and a mother of twins, had filled her living room and garage with donated food and clothing.

Marcellus began reaching out to contacts he had made during his journey from Haiti to graduate school at Rutgers. He emerged as a connection between his grieving community and those trying to help it.

A mentor of his contacted a Camden business owner who offered the warehouse that serves as the donation center.

Rowan and Rutgers students began aid drives. Friends and community members volunteered. A Rowan official, James Gaymon, who also sits on the board of the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which manages Atlantic City International Airport, began asking air carriers whether anyone could help transport donations. Another friend introduced Marcellus to Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, who visited the warehouse and, at a news conference about the city's relief efforts with the Red Cross, spoke of Marcellus' personal loss.

"We will try and help him see that everything gets transported to Haiti," she said.

Marcellus' seventh-grade teacher, Patricia Paré, the person who taught him English, learned of her former pupil's efforts. Her son, James, a social studies teacher at Pennsauken High School, organized a school fund-raising effort.

"We wanted to do something for Haiti," Paré said. "We are happy to help him."

Other school districts sent donations.

Weeks passed. The warehouse filled. Marcellus and others spent evenings collecting and sorting donations.

For Marcellus, the work was a catharsis, a way of working through the loss of his relatives who died in the rubble. The countless hours dedicated to the Haiti relief efforts have become a second job for Marcellus, who counsels disadvantaged college students at Rutgers' New Brunswick campus while working toward a doctorate in education policy.

"There have been times when I felt like I was going to break down," he said. "But I have not allowed myself to grieve. There is too much work to get done. I have to finish this."

Early on, Marcellus and others in his group decided against trying to ship the goods through major aid organizations. They speak to relatives in Haiti who tell them how so much of the aid is getting into the hands of only a few or ending up on the black market.

The Camden group's game plan was to get the goods shipped privately, then escort the donations overseas.

Now, some of those who had pledged to help him ship donations have lost interest, Marcellus said.

In early February, Redd's office called to set up a meeting, but never followed through, Marcellus said.

"The mayor applauds Mr. Marcellus' efforts," said the mayor's spokesperson, Robert Corrales, pointing out that Camden raised $26,000 for the Red Cross.

But, he said, "due to the current economic conditions, the mayor has been extremely busy ensuring that Camden's current budget remains fiscally balanced."

With Gaymon's help, Marcellus is in contact with U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's office, as well as with port officials.

Things are progressing, but slowly.

"You know Americans," said Gaymon. "We love our disasters, but we move on quickly."

Marcellus is still hoping to ship the goods privately, but is now sending major aid organizations inventories of the donations. He hopes he or some member of his community can help distribute the goods.

Either way, Marcellus said, he will ensure that the donations get to those who need them.

"I will not sleep," he said, "until this stuff gets to the people of Haiti."