From left, City of Life church members Juan Vega and Carlos Negron load supplies donated for Haitian earthquake relief onto a trailer. The St. Cloud church is accepting donations of non-perishable food, sundries and clothing from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

By Jessica Solis
Staff Writer

Students at Bellalago Academy have left their uniforms at home, put on pair of jeans and helped contribute to Haiti disaster relief efforts in the process.

The Poinciana charter school, which has a strict uniform policy that prohibits jeans, Friday held a Jeans Day, where students paid $1 to wear their jeans, with the proceeds going to various community efforts.

“We really discovered that we had a lot of connection to the country,” Bellalago Principal Cecille Diez said.

Administrators then put together a fundraiser and organized a Jeans Day with all of the proceeds to go to an organization helping children in Haiti.

“This was a time our children could demonstrate community service,” Diez said. “I think it eases part of the pain if you feel like you have done your part.”

Aside from donating to Haiti relief efforts, the school also is helping students and families affected by the earthquake by providing counseling.

Jeans Day is held four times a year, and usually raises about $1,500 per event, Diez said.

In the past, the more than 1,400 students have worn their jeans and donated to help fellow students with life-altering illnesses or injuries, and pitched in to help a student whose home burned. Jeans Day funds also have gone to a scholarship fund, Diez said.

Businesses also have increased their relief efforts, thanks to Kissimmee’s City of Life Church, which organized its own donation drive.

Since the earthquake, the church, through Operation Reach Out: Haiti, has collected more than $35,000 worth of donations coming in the form of personal hygiene products, medical supplies, clothing and bottled water.

About 170 businesses around Osceola and Orange counties have offered to help the church’s relief efforts by placing collection boxes at their business.

With many of the church’s members being from Haiti, the tragedy of the earthquake’s aftermath was being shared by friends and family, Pastor Justin McNeill said.

“That kind of brought it even closer to home, personally,” McNeill said. “Hearing those things, being with those people as the news comes, is difficult.”

Volunteers and donors from the community and the church have been pouring into its U.S. Highway 192 location regularly to drop off supplies, and a tent outside the church serving as the drop-off location is crowded daily with boxes of water, baby food and medical supplies.

“We’re getting more than we expected,” volunteer Minerva Cardona said.

Barbara Joseph, who is volunteering with Operation Reach Out: Haiti, and donating supplies along the way, said the church’s drive is a way to help her family in Haiti.

“It hurts to see,” the Kissimmee resident said. “People need help, and we got to help them.”

After the earthquake struck, Joseph tried to get in touch with relatives, including her grandmother and cousins, finally making contact with relatives later in the week.

But on Wednesday, a 5.9-magnitude aftershock hit the island, and sent her worries back to square one. Since Wednesday, she has yet to once again contact her family.

“It was hard at first,” Joseph said. “But there were tremors, so we’re starting again from scratch.”

City of Life is working with a group of Haiti-based ministries and faith-based mission organizations to get supplies on the ground, McNeill said.

The church is still taking donations of personal hygiene products, medical supplies and bottled water.

Other local churches also are getting involved. St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in St. Cloud will hold a special collection during its church services this weekend.

Other ways to help

Florida’s Blood Centers is giving $1 per blood donor to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund. Residents can stop and donate blood at the center’s Kissimmee branch, at 1029 N. John Young Parkway.

The city of Kissimmee’s General Employee Organization has coordinated a donation drive at various city buildings.

Collection bins are available in City Hall, the Kissimmee Police Department and the Central Services Purchasing Office, next to the YMCA on Mabbette Street. The city is collecting clothing, blankets, toiletries, baby formula, mosquito netting and medical supplies.

For a full list of what can be donated, click here .