Wyclef Jean's Wife Turns Store Into Center for Haiti Relief

When the recent earthquake hit Haiti, Claudinette Jean, owner of Fusha Home Accents knew just what to do. She placed the store's stock of unique items in storage and opened her doors as a central drop-off location for materials donations. Jean is working with her musician husband Wyclef Jean and the Yele Foundation.

"We started the day after the quake" she told Patch. "Actually in less than 24 hours. We're collecting everything here. After we receive it, volunteers go through the donations, sort useful items into groups and then re-box everything properly for shipping. Then we truck everything to storage units."

Patricia Fontaine, Fusha's office manager, is now working with volunteers and managing the donation process. She told Patch that "we sent down over eight large rooms full of materials so far."

We watched Fontaine painstakingly sort a box of donated food. "This batch just made it," she told us, pointing out some snacks that had a January 2010 expiration date. "Please don't send us expired food or supplies," she asked. "They will be sorted out and discarded." The Fusha group also asks that you not send cash. All donations of funds need to be made by check or money order.

Fontaine told Patch that this is not just a South Orange effort; people are sending donations from all over the metropolitan area. "We've seen people from New York, Queens, Brooklyn and from all over New Jersey."

For the time being, Yele is renting storage space, but the group will be sitting down with Newark Mayor Cory Booker next week to discuss the possibility of finding free-of-charge storage space in Newark. Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith has also stepped up to the plate and offered the town's Fire Department for help with supply collection.

When the group collects a large enough batch of donations, they'll fly them into the Dominican Republic using chartered planes. "There's no still commercial aviation into Haiti," Jean reminded us, "so we land in the Dominican Republic and truck materials to the other side of the island." Yele Foundation workers will unload the boxes and manage the distribution process.  

If you'd like to drop off a donation, Jean mentioned that they are especially in need of tents, sheets, large industrial cooking pots, paper plates, portable toilets and medical supplies, such as alcohol and cotton swabs. They are also looking for pencils and notebooks and sporting equipment for children, as well as diapers and sanitary products for women and children.

Also needed are disposable cups and plastic utensils, napkins, individual bottles of water (nothing gallon-sized or larger), soap-filled scouring pads, gloves (latex and non-latex), batteries, bug repellent and light-weight shoes. Make all donations payable to Yele Foundation. Donations are accepted Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 2 W. South Orange Ave., South Orange. Call 973-378-3330 for more information.