Oklahoman, Haiti Native Raises Thousands for Earthquake Victims

Thanks to generous Oklahomans, a local man has raised thousands of dollars to help Haiti earthquake victims. Now the Haiti native is leaving for his home country to share the blessings.

Tuesday, February 9th 2010, 5:56 pm

By: News 9


By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thanks to generous Oklahomans, a local man has raised thousands of dollars to help Haiti earthquake victims. Now the Haiti native is leaving for his home country to share the blessings.

Jean Lainé leaves for Haiti tomorrow. He said he's looking forward to returning home, but knows the devastation that awaits him. He lost five family members in that quake.

"Of course there are hundreds, thousands of families that lost their loves ones," Lainé said.

Those same people lost what little possessions they had. That's why Lainé and his brother are now packing for Haiti. But their suitcases aren't filled with items just for them.

People within the Putnam City school district, where Lainé is employed, pitched in to help his mission.

"Families in Putnam City provided us with these t-shirts," Lainé said. "Lots of people gave us deodorant, toothpaste and soap and toothbrushes so we prepared something specifically that we can hand to a family. And you know these items are really expensive right now in Haiti."

Money from all over the country poured into his organization Power Mission. He and his brother started Power Mission, an organization to provide funds for churches and schools. They have raised thousands of dollars to give to the people of Haiti.

Learn more about Power Mission and how you can help Jean Lainé's cause.

"We are going to be able to provide food for a month for over 100 families, so our goal is to give each family about 60 U.S. dollars," Lainé said.

The brothers will only spend a few days in Haiti this time, but it will lay the foundation for something bigger. They want to eventually build an orphanage for the thousands of children without homes.

"We need to be able to raise over $100,000 dollars in order to build an orphanage that will withstand earthquakes," Lainé said.

He hopes to have that money raised by the spring of 2011 so he can take an Oklahoma City construction crew to Haiti to begin building the orphanage.

More on News9.com: Oklahoma City Man to Return to Hometown in Haiti to Help

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