Raising cash for victims of devastating Haiti horror

COMMUNITIES in the Staffordshire Moorlands have come together to help victims of a devastating earthquake on the other side of the world.

Fund-raising organisations and schools have been staging events to collect money for the Haiti Appeal.

Leek's Rotary Club has donated £980 for two Shelter Boxes which have already been sent to the Caribbean island.

Rotarian Graham Alcock said: "This is what the club is here for – to help the less fortunate and people in need.

"However, we would not have been able to make such a donation without the generosity of the people of Leek through our many fund-raising events."

The Rotary Club of Endon & Stockton Brook has also donated towards aid boxes to be handed out to survivors.

Treasurer Mike Dawson said: "We have sent £300 to the national Rotary organisation of Aquabox and a further £250 to the Life Box charity."

A life box is a plastic crate which is filled with clothes, shoes, blankets, cookware, toiletries and essential tools.

Staffordshire Moorlands Soroptimist International is brainstorming fund-raising ideas to rebuild the organisation's emergency fund which has been sent out to Haiti.

President Pam Wood explained: "Money was sent out to Haiti straight away from the international organisation as a whole. We will now help to reimburse the fund ready for any other emergency."

Members of the Leek Lions will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss how they can raise cash to help rebuild the devastated country. Lions president Lynda Demaid-Jones said: "Internationally the Lions has sent out 1.5 million dollars to the cause. As a local group we will be meeting shortly and deciding on what we can do to help."

Pupils and staff at St Edward's Junior High School had a 'dress-down' day which included crazy hats and raised more than £600.

Rudyard Methodist Church, in Lake Road, Rudyard, is hosting a fund-raising event.

The event, from 9.30am until 12noon on Saturday, will include a coffee morning, cake stall, and bring and buy sale. Westwood First School's PTFA is organising a Chocolate Bingo on Friday with proceeds of their raffle going to the Haiti Appeal.

The earthquake – measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale – struck Haiti's capital Port au Prince on January 12 and left upto 200,000 people dead.