Concert for Haiti money being donated

APPLETON - More than $40,000 in donations from Northeast Wisconsin – including money raised during a concert broadcast on FOX 11 – is making its way to Haiti nearly two years after a devastating earthquake.

Days after the Jan. 12, 2010 quake leveled much of the country and killed 200,000 people, FOX 11 partnered with Lawrence University to host Concert for Haiti, a fundraiser held on the university campus. Money raised is being donated to the Holy Trinity Music School in Port-au-Prince, which has a longstanding relationship with Lawrence.

Donations from the concert totaled more than $32,000, university leaders said. The Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac recently added $8,000 to the funds from Northeast Wisconsin. The diocese also collected $1,400, which will be donated toward the rebuilding of Haiti’s Episcopal Cathedral.

• Click the Play button to the left to watch the complete Concert for Haiti

“Weeks after the earthquake, musicians from Holy Trinity began performing for displaced people living in makeshift tent cities. With this donation the music school will build a temporary rehearsal structure enabling work to go on even in inclement weather,” Lawrence Professor of Cello Janet Anthony, who has traveled to Haiti annually to teach music, said in a news release.

“Plans have been drawn up to rebuild the entire cathedral complex (cathedral, convent, elementary, trade and music schools, art museum, concert hall, administrative offices, guest house) but, even with the most optimistic estimates, the completion date is several years off. This donation marks the first large step in the process of rebuilding and is hugely important. The generosity of our local community is astounding, moving and extremely gratifying.”

Other partners in the project include the American Red Cross and the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.