Only 600 miles from Haiti, South Florida is home to the largest Haitian community in the United States. Practically all of the 300,000 Haitians living in the area left family behind Haiti. Now, a week after the devastating earthquake, frustrations are even higher for the thousands who still have yet to make contact with loved ones. As international efforts for survivors seem to fall short of their expectations, South Florida residents are mobilizing efforts to help the neighboring nation. South Floridians are following traditional methods of donating water, canned food, protein bars, blankets, sleeping bags, lightly worn clothing and shoes, pre-paid satellite cell phones, fl ashlights and other goods to collection sites across St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Most of these items are picked-up by established charities such as Food for the Poor and brought to Haiti.

Local school districts are committed to the cause. Broward County announced on Thursday that all of its 32 high schools, the Ft. Lauderdale headquarters, and three area offi ces are all now serving as donation drop-off locations for three charities contributing to relief efforts. In Palm Beach County school district, where roughly 500 employees and 16,000 students are of Haitian decent, the efforts are focused on the local community. School offi cials set-up an international phone line at Toussaint L'Ouverture High School in Boyton Beach, transforming the campus into a de facto communications hub for local families to contact relatives in Haiti. Several grief counselors are also being provided to the high school, where 93% of the students are Haitian. District administrators have also created a special work group designed to implement direction and organization in their relief efforts for earthquake survivors.

Last weekend, several live music events on Las Olas and South Beach featuring local, national, and international talent including, Kimani Marley, donated all or most proceeds to relief efforts. A more controversial plan proposes an airlift of perhaps thousands of orphaned children to Miami. Catholic Charities and South Florida immigrant rights organizations refer to the model of Operation Pedro Pan, a U.S. government-backed covert mission launched in 1960 to take children out of Cuba, where Fidel Castro’s revolution had just triumphed. Over 14,000 Cuban minors were brought to Miami over a period of 22 months. Some went to live with relatives or family friends in Miami but most were funneled through Miami-Dade group homes. Organizers believe this will be an effective way to care for the thousands or hundreds of thousands of children left orphaned by the earthquake.

Nearly every day since last Tuesday's catastrophic earthquake, South Florida community leaders and members have met to discuss different strategies to help survivors. The church Notre Dame d'Haiti and the Jean-Jacques Dessalines community center in Miami are serving as support centers and drop-off locations for material and monetary donations. Yet the local South Florida community has been alarmed and frustrated at seeing images of thousands of Haitians, a week after the quake, still buried under the rubble and lacking food, water or proper medical attention.

"What everyone is saying is 'I want to be there,'" says Miamibased entertainer/activist Farah Juste. Juste, who has not been able to make contact with her mother, sister, brother-in-law and other family members in Haiti, understands the desperation brewing here in South Florida. "People are begging for the right to go and help their country but are being denied by the US government and organizations. It is obvious that these governments and organizations are not doing enough." The American Red Cross, one of the largest organizations helping on the ground in Haiti, is also providing food, shelter, and hygiene kits to U.S. citizen evacuees in South Florida. Chrystian Tejedor, Public Affairs South Florida Regional Offi cer for the American Red Cross says the organization is bombarded with calls everyday from community members who want to help. Tejedor says that most of the calls the local Red Cross branches receive are from civilians who want to physically volunteer in Haiti. "It's unbelievable how many calls we receive from people ready to go and help their countrymen,” he said. “It's remarkable. However, the American Red Cross is limiting our volunteers to experts in disaster relief. It's just not safe to send untrained people into such a dangerous situation." He adds that "the most effective way for people to contribute to the relief efforts are through monetary donations." According to Tejedor, The American Red Cross has raised over $100 million dollars for Haiti.

Juste says the need for a strong leader is more critical now for Haitians both in Haiti and the United States than ever before. The name most mentioned at community meetings to fi ll this role: "Aristide," says Juste. "I wish President Préval had enough courage, enough pride and dignity to open his arms to President Aristide and say 'let's sit down together. Let's rebuild together. Forget about the past, and let's work to rebuild Haiti." The widelypopular exiled former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide released a statement from South Africa last week, announcing he and his wife, Mildred are ready to return to Haiti at a moment's notice to join in relief efforts and the rebuilding of their nation. "This is the best time for us to come together," says radio host and activist Lucie Tondreau. "If we cannot pull together as a community now, we will never be able to."