Alec Baldwin named honorary chairman of Hamptons Haiti benefit

Alec Baldwin has been named honorary chair of the fourth annual Hamptons Artists for Haiti Benefit taking place at the East Hampton Airport on Aug. 7.

This year's fundraiser is earmarked to build a school for 400 children in the remote foothills town of Ranquitte. "How can such a close neighbor of the mighty U.S. continue to be the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and in constant turmoil?" asked the Amityville-born and Massapequa-raised Emmy Award winner, 63, in a statement. Haiti, currently in turmoil following its president's assassination, "needs us all to help and to change that narrative. And I do believe the best way to do this is by educating Haiti's children, the country's future leaders."

The benefit will feature an open bar, hors d'oeuvres, music, an airplane display and a silent auction of works by more than 30 East End artists. The event is working with the nonprofit Wings Over Haiti whose founder, Sag Harbor pilot Jonathan Glynn, has flown medical supplies and school-construction teams to the island nation for years. Tickets to the family friendly event are $175 in advance at wingsoverhaiti.net, $195 at the door, and are tax-deductible. Children under 12 are free.