The largest city in the western part of Haiti is Les Cayes, located on the coast with a population of over 88,000. Surrounded by agricultural areas, its large port plays a major role in the exportation of Haitian products such as sugarcane and coffee. It is also the home of EPIC’s Black-capped Petrel team members Anderson Jean and Maxon Fildor. While they were visiting petrel nesting sites, many miles to the east and high in the mountains, they received text messages on 14 August at about 8:30 a.m., that a massive 7.2 earthquake was rocking their homes. The team quickly made their way back to discover buildings collapsed, roads broken, and medical facilities unstable to treat patients. While Anderson’s mother’s house sustained some cracking and Maxon’s mother-in law sustained some injuries from falling debris, for the most part, the team passed the earthquake unharmed. However, their community was less fortunate, and there was a pressing need for shelters in Les Cayes. A plan came together quickly to raise emergency funds to help the community and THANKS to the global network of EPIC supporters, more than $4,000 was raised to purchase and deploy shelters for families in Les Cayes.

Thank you for supporting a community we love and care about.  Your help made a real difference.