Pitcher Joaquin Benoit Sends a Much-Needed Christmas Present to Haiti

Major League Baseball pitcher and former Texas Rangers Joaquin Benoit is adding new meaning to the word “relief” this Christmas for thousands of Haitians.

Benoit responded to the Pan American Development Foundation’s (PADF) request for cash assistance that allows the non-profit to deliver hospital equipment to areas in Haiti that are still recovering from hurricanes and to the country’s toughest slums.

“When I heard that our neighbors in Haiti needed medical equipment, I felt compelled to make a difference,” says Benoit, who is from the Dominican Republic. “PADF provided me with the right opportunity to alleviate the suffering of Haitians. I am making a difference this holiday season.”

A shipping container with electric beds and hospital medicine carts will arrive just after Christmas to Haiti for distribution to institutions that attend up to 2,000 patients a day.

In Port-au-Prince’s notorious slum of Cite Soleil, for example, the Centre Hospitalier Sainte Catherine Labouré has more patients than beds. In the city of Gonaïves, the Hôpital Bon Secours is trying to replace equipment that was lost to Hurricane Gustav.
“Joaquin Benoit stepped up to the plate when Haiti needed help,” says Amy Coughenour, PADF’s Deputy Executive Director. “His support, along with help from other donors, means more Haitians will receive medical treatment in a more dignified way.”

The hospital beds and medicine carts are a donation by the U.S. General Services Administration, which provides excess equipment to non-profit organizations.
PADF’s successful in-kind donations program supports hundreds of thousands of people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with new and gently used medical equipment, professional tools and relief supplies.

“Through partnerships with U.S. agencies, hospitals and individual donors, PADF is able to provide disadvantaged people essential equipment that will make a difference in their lives,” say Pilar Heraud, PADF’s in-kind program director.