We had an editorial today about giving when disaster strikes in the world, this time, specifically, the earthquake in Italy.

Personal connections often foster giving around the world, and we’ve seen that many times in Rockland. But we’ve seen that giving spirit spread. Local Haitian groups rallied to bring food and financial assistance to Haiti after last year’s storms killed upwards of 1,000 people and wreaked havoc on food production and infrastructure in the nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. But help was not limited to members of the Haitian-American community, said Renold Julien, who heads the Spring Valley-based Konbit Neg Lakay. “I always knew that Haiti has a lot of friends, but I did not expect for so many non-Haitians to get involved,” Julien said last year. (The file photo above shows members of North Rockland High School’s Aspira club, Desiree Hernandez, left, and Maneli Cortes both of Haverstraw, packing donated clothes at Quisqueya in Haverstraw Nov. 10, 2007, as part of the Haverstraw Relief Task Force’s collection of food and supplies for flood victims in the Dominican Republic.)

We saw the personal connection foster the giving spirit throughout the county after a tsunami swept over south Asia the day after Christmas in 2004. Nicole Varmon of Valley Cottage and Meaghan Carleo of Nyack were teaching English on the island of Phuket, Thailand. They witnessed the devastation from the disaster that left at least 165,000 dead in 11 countries. Varmon soon returned home while Carleo stayed. The pair raised $26,000 to help Thai victims, much of that through local fundraisers.
Sometimes, though, it is just the human connection, void of any personal ties, that spurs giving. In 2005, then-6-year-old Ashley Columbia of Stony Point raised $6,000 for tsunami survivors after viewing news reports. “”I felt like it was something I had to do,” she said at the time. “It felt right. If everybody got involved, it would seem like a lot more of a difference.” Indeed.

How to help
Donations for victims of the earthquake in Italy can be sent to:

• Rockland Lodge Earthquake Relief Fund, 46 Van Wyk Road, Blauvelt, NY 10919. For more information contact 845-359-9766


• IAF Earthquake Relief Fund, c/o Honorary Vice Consul Steve Acunto, P.O. Box 9001, Mount Vernon, NY 10552


• American Red Cross, 143 N. Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960. Please add “International Response Fund” in the memo.