A motley crew of musicians manage to pull together $1 million to send medical relief to Haiti.
In yet another much-needed and highly-coordinated effort, a plane carrying a whopping 10,000 pounds of medical supplies, along with doctors and medical staff took off out of Long Beach, CA at 11 a.m. today bound for Haiti’s quake-ravaged Port-au-Prince.
But the MD-80 (a mid-range commercial airplane) isn’t part of a Doctors Without Borders mission. Rather, it’s the result of a $1 million fundraising and volunteer effort by a motley crew of music producers and performers, including Rage Against the Machine, Creed, Godsmack, Eve and New Kids on the Block, among others.
Creed lead singer Scott Stapp is already on the ground in Haiti where he’s been working with the Creed-founded With Arms Wide Open Foundation. Stapp will help coordinate efforts once the plane arrives later today.
Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna, pictured, has donated money himself and has been urging his fans to join the cause.
“A soul is irreplaceable and should never be taken for granted,” said Erna in a press release. ” … And since I can’t be there to help in person, I want to make my contribution as a fellow human being to give what I can while I’m in the fortunate situation that I am to help those that are so unfortunate in this time of tragedy.”
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello was pivotal in starting a network of e-mails that led to doctors, supplies and donations, including a group of Haitian doctors and nurses who will head to Haiti later and stay for up to a month.
New Kids on the Block donated money of their own, then started a Twitter campaign to get fans on board.
And while the plane is scheduled to return either late Friday or Saturday, the effort, dubbed Plane to Haiti, will continue as long as needed.
“As long as the money and support keeps coming, we will keep the supplies going down,” said concert video producer Daniel Catullo who kicked off the initiative in partnership with the Wheelchair Foundation and donations of medical supplies through MedShare.
Catullo’s media company DC3 is also coordinating a massive multimedia effort that will help Haitians leave video messages for their loved ones who have been unable to reach them. The company will also collect footage to be used in ongoing efforts to raise money through public service announcements. Over 40 computers, two satellite dishes and 100 video cameras have been donated to the ground efforts through partnerships with media companies, including CNN.
The entire effort is being coordinated through the Wheelchair Foundation, which is accepting donations at www.planetohaiti.org.
SOURCE: Tonic