Among the most-discussed news topics of the past few weeks have been the subjects of Haiti and the devastating Hurricane Matthew that killed at least 877 people and left tens of thousands injured or homeless.

Hurricane Matthew, which is being called “the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade,” first hit Haiti’s coast on the fourth of October, leaving a mass of destruction in its wake.

According to several sources, Matthew has left almost 1.4 million Haitian citizens without food and clean water, and preliminary concerns of poor sanitation have climaxed to large outbreaks of cholera.

Several days after the hurricane had passed, the people of Haiti appealed to the United Nations and the world for monetary aid; many countries, including the United States, have lent a hand to the Haitian government and its citizens. It has been increasingly difficult, however, to provide funding and supplies because of the horrific conditions the Hurricane has wrought upon Haiti.

It is fortunate that the Harriton chapter of buildOn, a charitable organization, has worked persistently to provide support to a number of needy areas in the world, especially with regards to the well-being of children in third world countries.

Every year, students are selected from the Harriton and Lower Merion buildOn chapters for a service trip to build schools in third world countries. Last year, Harriton had the opportunity to send its own team to a needy country and decided to send it to Haiti.

According to Sonia Groeneveld, a Harriton senior and buildOn officer, Haiti was chosen because it is “…the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The buildOn organization has built 101 schools in Haiti since 2001, so having Harriton build one of those 101 and getting to build school number 102 is super awesome.”

Since Hurricane Matthew, Harriton’s buildOn chapter has been in communication through social media with a few of the Haitians it helped on its trek last year. Harriton buildOn’s annual fundraisers for Haiti include a donut sale, car wash, pie sale (upcoming), and a coffee sale (later this year); the group has been doing extra fundraising, however, requesting that each student donate one dollar to the Haitian relief efforts through Harriton’s English department.

Groeneveld and fellow buildOn officer Alexandra Branscom have been organizing an event at Harriton to raise money for the survivors. Harriton buildOn’s annual trek to Haiti has been seemingly unaffected by the recent hurricane, and the group anticipated making the trip to Haiti in the spring.

“These people, who had so little to begin with, have lost even more, and I think that gives people even more reason to give back to the Haitians. It’s definitely great that we will be going back this year,” Groeneveld commented.

On behalf of the buildOn team, Groeneveld implores the student body to do their part in contributing time and money to the Haitian people, especially in the aftermath of such a disaster.

“I think just in general that anyone can get involved to help the cause. We live in such a fortunate area that sometimes it’s so easy to forget how little others have and that the seemingly small things we do here can make a big difference in others’ lives. So I would definitely encourage all Harriton students to try to give back in some way, whether it’s to go to a buildOn service project, sell some donuts for our trek, or to do work with some of the other community service clubs. Giving back to the community on a local or global scale is something that every person should take part in.”