The slow delivery of relief from LI to Haiti

On May 1 a shipment of nonperishable goods donated by Long Islanders after the Jan. 12 earthquake reached Haiti.

But even after more than four months, "food is still needed, clothing is still needed, people are still homeless," said Kimberly Jean-Pierre, vice president of Haitian Americans United for Change, a Long Island group that helped organize the collection.

The goods - water, food, clothes and medical supplies that had been collected across Long Island - were sorted and packed by volunteers at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 25 office in Hauppauge onto about 110 pallets, then stored in Commack by Liberty Moving & Storage.

Getting relief supplies to Haiti has been a challenge - first because of closed ports and, later, struggles to get containers past local customs officials. The Long Island donations remained in limbo as organizers searched for a group that could get a shipment into the country.

On March 14, 64 pallets - 24 of medical supplies, 23 of nonperishable food and 17 of hygiene products - began their journey in two tractor-trailers provided by the Christian relief group Food For the Poor.

When the delivery reached Miami, the pallets were transferred into shipping containers, then loaded onto a ship that departed April 24. It reached the port of Cap-Haïtien seven days later.

Cap-Haïtien was chosen because thousands fled there after the quake, said Aimee Vignola of Food For the Poor, which has worked in Haiti since 1986.

Another 28 pallets left Long Island May 13, in a tractor-trailer provided by the Central Islip-based nonprofit Haitian American Association for the Progress and Advancement of Cap-Haïtien. About 20 pallets remain in Commack, Jean-Pierre said.

- Jennifer Maloney