On Tuesday, January 12, a major 7.0 earthquake shook the streets of Haiti, an island nation in the Caribbean. Tens of thousands lost their lives, but the natural disaster also affected over 3 million people who lost homes, and family members. Although international support has been pouring in to the country, there is need for more. Wayland High School is responding with a fundraiser this Friday, called High Five for Haiti, to aid in the relief effort.

“The idea is to have a one day fundraiser, which has the goal of [having] every student, teacher, and faculty member bring $5 or more [in order to] help [the people affected by] the Haiti earthquake,” said Mr. Schmirer, an adviser for the class of 2010.

“We’re hoping to get 100% participation,” said Mary Downs, treasurer of the freshman class.

Wednesday morning there was another aftershock from the quake, with a magnitude of 6.1, that caused further damage. Haitians do not have the funding or materials to treat victims who have suffered injuries.  Safe shelter, food and clean water are scarce.  They need all the help they can get, and the money from this fundraiser will go straight to aid the country of Haiti.

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“I’m glad that our school is taking an initiative on natural disasters and helping people around the world,” said Larry Guo, vice president of the class of 2013.

If everyone at Wayland High School donates $5, it is estimated that WHS will collect approximately $5,000 to donate. The planners believe this small effort could go a long way.

WSPN is awaiting comment from Bobby Dresser, 2010 class president.