Haiti relief effort has local ties

A week ago, Navarre area residents were busy going about their daily lives, far removed from a tragedy about to strike some one-thousand miles south.

On the afternoon of Jan. 12, a seismic earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude rocked through the Port Au Prince area of Haiti. The quake was felt throughout the Dominican Republic and as far as Tampa, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Since then, all eyes and ears have been focused on the third-world country. With nearly 50,000 believed to be dead and thousands more still missing, aid is slowly filtering into Haiti.

While celebrities and government agencies alike pool together resources to help, locally, Navarre residents and business owners have been asked to do what they can to bandage the ailing nation.

For more on this story, see the Jan. 21 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.