Corporations and Non-Profits Team Up to Provide Haiti Relief with Solar Powered Tents
Los Angeles Oct 1, 2010 – It’s never easy to provide relief . After the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), individuals and corporations have and come together to provide both an immediate fix and long term solutions to impact the devastated areas of Haiti.
One week after the earthquake, a clean energy advocate and President of Green Galaxy Enterprises, Nicole Hansen decided to take action. She put out a request to her wide circle of contacts in the renewable energy arena to help provide relief and deliver sustainable solutions for Haiti to organizations she knew, like Global Green that have a reputation for integrity in the face of disaster and put them to the best possible use.
Tony Saxton (CEO of FTL Solar) responded to her call and quickly offered to donate three PowerMods® solar tents, thereby helping the survivors with both shelter and a power source. FTL Solar’s unique patent-pending products are the first and only pre-fabricated, mass-produced photovoltaic (PV) tensile structures in the world. As expressions of practical function and form, FTL Solar structures integrate thin film PV with super strength fabric to create architecturally refined solar canopies, arrays and enclosures that turn sunlight into electricity. These canopies can also provide shelter for disaster relief, communication command centers, medical units, temporary housing, and energy pods for small villages. FTL Solar products can eliminate the need to transport and operate generators, burn kerosene or other fossil fuels – all of which pose health risks to people and damage to their environment.
Since the FTL Solar PowerMods® are sideless canopies, Classic Party Rentals offered to donate wall panels, so that enclosed areas could be created for medical treatment, shelter and work stations. Rounding out this important circle is the transportation of the donated tents from Los Angeles to Florida was the shipping company, Champion Logistics Group who delivered the tents to the Miami where Airline Ambassadors International’s media liaison, Ms. Tess Cacciatore, had helped secure transport from their AAI Haiti Relief Center in Miami to Port-au-Prince.
Airline Ambassadors worked tirelessly for three months getting the shipment passed through Haitian’s complicated and beuerocratic Customs preceedures. Finally delivering the tents into the hands of their partner, Bobby Duval of L’Athlétique d’Haïti to store and distribute on their behalf until Global Green partner, CineInstitute, the non-profit, Haiti Street Kids as well as World Vision can collect and then deploy the tents where they have established their bases and use as office to accommodate such needs such as camp management, and school facilities. The tents not only provide shelter and energy, but also give the non-profits an opportunity in this crisis to raise funds for their relief efforts by setting up charging stations for others who need to power their computers and cell phones in these remote camps. FTL, Green Galaxy Enterprises and Classic Party Rentals hope that this aid and assistance will greatly improve and increase for all in Haiti who are touched by these important organizations.
- Global Green: A worldwide organization committed to rebuilding Haiti through sustainable and green solutions, as they did in New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
- Airline Ambassadors: Airline Ambassadors provides international relief and development
- to underprivileged communities worldwide.
- CineInstitute: Using the power of cinema, Ciné Institute educates and empowers Haitian youth who seek the creative, technical and business skills necessary to grow local media industries that can provide jobs and spur economic growth needed to improve their lives and the lives of others.
- Haitian Street Kids, Inc.: (HSKI) HSKI was founded with the mission to protect, serve and advocate for the street kids and runaway restavek slave children of Haiti.
- World Vision: World Vision is an international partnership of Christians whose mission is working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.
- L’Athlétique d’Haïti: a youth development program that provides underprivileged youth with a safe, clean, supportive environment where they can learn firsthand how the discipline of sports and the structure of teamwork can enhance skills, enrich lives and change futures.
- FTL Solar: FTL Solar’s Disaster Relief & Humanitarian products division is 100% vertically integrated to offer a variety of products and solutions. A centrally located PowerMod could charge battery-operated, efficient and inexpensive household lights for an entire village, or coupled with a high output water purification system could provide quality drinking water for an entire village.
- Green Galaxy Enterprises: Green Galaxy Enterprises is a renewable energy consulting business, focused on building partnerships among green technology companies, governments, educational institutions, and nonprofits. Seeking sustainable development with a humanitarian benefit, we help companies and organizations connect to raise their profiles through media, marketing, and event production.
“We are grateful to Green Galaxy Enterprises and FTL Solar, – for helping support Global Green USA’s initiative to provide immediate sustainable aid including solar tenting. In the months ahead, Global Green will be applying the lessons learned from its experiences garnered from rebuilding New Orleans green after Katrina to help Haiti rebuild safer, green homes, schools and communities.”
—Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green
“Airline Ambassadors is proud to be part of this effort to ensure the delivery of 3 solar tents donated by FTL Solar to World Trust Foundation, which JetBlue Airways has agreed to transport at no cost to Miami for AAI to get to Port-au-Prince and the U.S. military onwards to Jacmel. What a team!”
—Joseph Mutti, Director, Haiti Relief Airline Ambassadors
The Cine Institute continues to grow our solar capacity, reducing our dependance on diesel as we remain completely off the power grid. We feel wonderful reducing our carbon footprint and growing a model institute using sustainable resources in Haiti. Our goal is to be 80% wind and solar generated by 2014, and we have a long way to go. As our energy needs adjust, so will our sustainable systems. Its a great comfort to us, knowing we have friends like yourselves standing by! (Photos of the New Campus)
—Andrew Bigosinski, Cine Institute
