“Turn up a winner” for Haiti relief

Feb 04, 2010

When Wagarville Road resident Jerry Ackerman (photo left) stopped at the Country Style store for coffee in Napanee a couple of weeks ago he wasn’t thinking about the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.

Like many other Canadians he was torn by the stories coming out about the earthquake on the other side of the Island of Hispanola, in Haiti.

Much to his surprise, when Jerry turned up the lid on his coffee cup he found that he had turned up one of 15 winning cups (out of millions) that can be redeemed for a one-week trip for two, including airfare, hotel and meals, at the Punta Cana resort. The trip is valued at $2,500.

Jerry decided that instead of taking the trip he would auction it off and donate any money he raises towards Haitian relief.

He contacted the Frontenac News about his plans, and we contacted Country Style to let them know what Jerry wanted to do with the prize.

Within a few hours we received a call from Rita McParland at Country Style.

“Normally the prizes are non-transferrable, as it says on the entry form,” Rita said, “but I have called Transat Holidays who are providing the prize, and in the circumstances we are going to waive the rule.”

With Country Style on board and offering to help promote the auction, Jerry Ackerman approached both the Country Style Store in Napanee and the Napanee Beaver, and the trip will be available to the highest bidder.

In order to decide what to do with whatever amount of money is raised, Jerry has consulted with Bill Powers, who lives near Mountain Grove and is heavily involved with International Rescue, a group that sends small teams as soon as possible after disasters to try and rescue people. (See sidebar – International Rescue)

Between now and February 15 at noon, the Frontenac News will be accepting bids on the trip. We will provide updates on where the bidding is at our website, www.frontenacnews.ca and in the February 11 edition of the paper.

To bid, contact us by phone at 613-279-3150 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. or by fax at 613-279-3172. We will contact all bidders directly and ask them to provide a VISA or MasterCard number in order to verify the bid. (No one will be billed during the bidding process)

We will contact the winner on February 15 and arrange to get them the prize, in concert with Country Style. An event may be planned at the Country Style Store in Napanee.

The Frontenac News will turn over 100% of the money directly to recipients in Haiti under the direction of Bill Powers and John Green, President of International Rescue. The organization International Rescue will not itself be a recipient.

International Rescueby Jeff Green

Bill Powers has built up a fair bit of experience in disaster zones working with John Green in Indonesia after the tsunami, in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and off the coast of Texas after Hurricane Ike. John Green did rescue work after the 9/11 attack as well.

Green personally took out a mortgage on his house in Ottawa after the earthquake in order to purchase some specialized equipment: a saw to cut though concrete, a jack hammer, a powerful compact generator, a specialized chainsaw and more. The equipment costs $125,000 all told.

The International Rescue Team was set to fly to Haiti on the Sunday following the earthquake, but couldn’t get a flight in until Wednesday. Nonetheless as soon as they arrived they went to work at the Caribbean Market in Port-Au-Prince.

“Teams from all over the world were there, from Japan, Chile, Israel, and dog teams were brought in as well,” said Bill Powers, in an interview with the News after his return. “We spelled each other. Basically we were recovering bodies. Equipment was used to move rubble and where a body was spotted we would dig it out by hand.”

On the next day the team was asked by the Chilean General Toro to go to the Montana Hotel, where they ended up spending two days.

While they were working at the hotel the bodies of three Canadians were discovered, including the body of former Member of Parliament Serge Marcil.

“Among the people working there was a young man whose fiancée was in the building. He was searching for closure but we never found her,” said Powers.

International Rescue then returned to the Caribbean Market and began to work there, but a change in policy from the Haitian government stopped them in their tracks. Instead of continuing to search for bodies, the workers were beginning to use heavy equipment to simply clear out the rubble.

“We sat there for two hours and decided it was not something we could be part of,” said Bill Powers, but in retrospect he is not so harsh on the Haitian government for making the decision. “You can see their point. There was an awful lot of rubble to move around.”

The team went back to the Hotel Montana to continue working.

Before leaving Haiti they travelled to a rural area, about 30 kilometres from Port-Au-Prince to a place called Fermath.

They found no destruction there, but did find a hospital that was treating people who had managed to get there from the areas that had been hit.

“The doctors were out of antibiotics and other medical supplies and aid is being focussed so much on Port-Au-Prince that it would be a good idea to raise money for medical supplies for the Fermath hospital, which is slipping through the cracks,” said Bill Powers.

The Fermath hospital could be one of the main benefactors of the money raised in the “Turn up a Winner” fundraiser.