Having already raised more than $20,000 for Haiti’s earthquake relief victims, two Ottawa residents are hoping to bring in a million.
Rachel Décoste and Ingrid Windsor Joseph, better known as Oni, the Haitian Sensation, who both have relatives on the devastated island, set up a website www.HelpHealHaiti.ca to help co-ordinate fundraising efforts.
Décoste has a large family in Haiti. She had to wait four days after the earthquake before learning that her immediate family had survived. Some of her distant relatives have died or are missing. Since telephones were knocked out by the earthquake, she has had very little contact with her family, which has been very difficult.
“It’s been five days of complete anxiety and stress,” she said. “I would never have imagined what stress can do to the body until I experienced it myself. It’s horrible.”
Décoste and Oni have been working to raising money to support relief efforts. A quickly organized fundraiser last Thursday brought in $8,080.
With more time to organize and publicize the event, Décoste is hoping to raise much more money with a fundraiser next Thursday and the Mercury Lounge in the ByWard Market. Ottawa Christian hip-hop act Prosper and the G.P.M. is slated to be the feature performer.
