“I’m working my butt off to raise as much money as possible for Haiti. That is all my time is dedicated to. Sorry boys! This is all I care about,” Annalynne McCord told TakePart at the Artists for Peace and Justice Haiti benefit.
While McCord has sworn off boys for the time being, she isn’t the only celebrity focused on rebuilding Haiti. A group of actors under Actors for Peace and Justice [APJ] have been dedicated to helping Haiti rebuild…for the past year.
Once upon a 2009, award-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis invited a group of friends to his home to share a story. “He said, ‘Guys, I met this incredible guy in Haiti. He builds orphanages, runs the only free pediatrics hospital in Port-au-Prince and distributes the only free drinking water in Port-au-Prince. So we formed this organization [APJ] to sustain his programs,” Haiti benefit host Olivia Wilde told TakePart.
To help APJ, over one thousand guests gathered yesterday evening donating at the doors of Track 16 Gallery, bidding on artwork by artists such Ed Ruscha and Corinne Chaix and buying T-shirts specially designed for the benefit by Propr’s Ben Harper and David Arquette.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performed as Wilde and her castmastes, Lisa Edelstein, Peter Jacobson and Jesse Spencer, sang along. Gerard Butler turned heads, making it incredibly difficult to pay attention to the concert. Jessica Capshaw, Diane Lane and Rashida Jones also lent their star power to raise awareness.
While the evening was filled with merriment, for many guests the reality of the earthquake was still fresh in their memories.
Maria Bello had been to Haiti in December and went straight back after the earthquake to help. “It was the most devastating thing you could ever imagine, worse than anything I’ve ever seen and yet the most inspiring place. You would see people from all over the world come together to help and support these people. And seeing the Haitian people themselves, their resilience is incredibly inspiring,” Bello shared with TakePart.
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APJ is not stopping. Wilde told TakePart, “We are committed to raising funds so we can rebuild the schools and keep the hospital open and expand it. We are going to bring in a burn unit to the hospital. We are going to solar panel the hospital and the schools. We want to build more schools, keep the orphanage running, keep the free water distribution and just expand all our programs. We want a mobile technology-training program. What we are going to do is keep raising money and keep going down there.”
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About Artists for Peace and Justice:
Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ), established in early 2009, is a fundraising effort founded by Paul Haggis and friends that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty and enfranchisement in communities around the world. Over the past year, APJ has directed its efforts to raising enough funds to fully sponsor three schools in Haiti in support of the initiatives of Father Rick Frechette and his team. These schools aren’t just a place to learn but provide for a hot meal, clean water and a chance at the future to children who desperately need it. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, APJ has focused its efforts on raising much needed dollars for emergency aid in the ravaged country that is only a few hours from our shores.
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Photo: United Nations Development Programme Flickr photostream/Creative Commons
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