Elan School
Poland, ME

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Elan Students Raise Money For Haiti Relief

On Friday, April 23, 2010, the students of Elan presented Red Cross Director, Laurie Levine, with a check for $2,054 toward the relief efforts for the people of Haiti affected by the January 12th, 2010 earthquake, which claimed the lives of over 230,000 people. The money earned was the result of a two-month effort that included seminars, guest speakers, bowling competitions and other fundraising events organized by the students of Elan, who sought pledges and donations from faculty, parents, Elan vendors, and friends.

"It started as something small, an idea," said the Elan representative Clare Woodman. "Some of the seniors sitting around a table were discussing current events when the talk turned to organizing an assembly to help the people of Haiti." The students researched the earthquake and rallied the student body to lend their support.

Mirielle Jean-Francois Walton, a parent of one of the students, grew up in the Haitian city of Cap-Haitien, 80 miles from Port-Au-Prince, the nation's capital and center of the quake. She made it her mission to acquaint the students of Elan with the culture of Haiti through artifacts, games, utensils and music. "Ten dollars can buy 90 lbs of food," said Walton who spoke to her parents in Haiti and told them of the fundraiser. "They were moved to tears."

No stranger to humanitarian work, Elan students have raised over $16,000 for the victims of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and sent Christmas care packages to alumni serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The students here have always been sensitive to the needs of others," said Elan representative, Peter E. Rowe. "It's an integral part of the school's philosophy to think of others. They made us proud by helping those less fortunate."

Elan is a residential program for troubled adolescents located in Poland, Maine.