The images of the devastation left in the wake of Tuesday evening's catastrophic 7.0 earthquake have been extremely tough to watch for guard Max Jean-Gilles.
Jean-Gilles' parents, Macine and Sorisena, immigrated to the United States from Haiti in the mid-1980s. Both Max and his wife, Maggie, still have family in the poverty-stricken country. Communication has been slow, but they have received word on a number of family members.
Jean-Gilles has learned that his wife's uncle suffered a broken leg as a result of a collapsed building. Jean-Gilles also said that his cousin, Stan, is likely trapped under the rubble of his family's home. A school that Jean-Gilles' wife had started in September 2008 was destroyed.
"The hardest thing is that there is no communication. People are working hard, trying to get everything together to send supplies," Jean-Gilles said by phone on Thursday morning.
The Jean-Gilleses are involved in a faith-based non-profit organization called Passion Rescue Mission. They are calling on people who wish to donate anything from money to clothes to check out PassionRescueMission.org. Pastor Gene Zertus is collecting supplies and will be making a trip to Haiti to deliver the goods.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 11:10 a.m., January 14
