Mark Richey, past AAC president, and his wife, Teresa, are planning a second shipment of tents to Haitians left homeless by this month’s earthquake. The first big load of tents and other equipment will leave the Richeys’ Massachusetts woodworking business, en route to Haiti, this week. The new deadline for sending good-quality tents (new or used) to the Richeys is February 12. Larger, family-style tents are best, but any shelter is welcome. Please ship tents to:
Mark Richey Woodworking
40 Parker Street
Newburyport, MA 01950-4056
Teresa Richey said sleeping bags are no longer needed and that tents are the primary need in Haiti, with untold numbers of people still sleeping outside without adequate shelter from the weather and mosquitoes. Mark Richey and past AAC vice president Jim Ansara are both in Haiti, assisting Partners in Health with building-related issues.
Ansara and his wife, Karen, are matching donations to the Haiti Fund of the Boston Foundation up to $1 million, through their own family foundation. The funds will provide immediate relief as well as a long-term focus on reconstruction and human rights. To learn more or make a donation, visit the Haiti Fund web page.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:45 PM
I live in Wyckoff NJ (Bergen County) I have a few tents that I no longer use that I would like to donate but I don’t know where to drop them off. Zip 07481
January 26th, 2010 at 3:40 PM
Hi Susan – Check out the address in the post above. You can either drop the tents off there or ship them. Hope that helps!
January 27th, 2010 at 7:44 AM
Would like to send a tent, going to encourage friends to do the same. I live in WA, is there a more effective way to ship to Haiti? Can’t find any WA state groups doing this.
January 27th, 2010 at 10:57 AM
hey there washington fisherman. i’m in oregon. wonder what it takes to ship a container? i bet the northwest has quite a few tents to spare, if we could figure out how this is done…
January 27th, 2010 at 12:53 PM
mary beth and fisherman – I am also in Washington state and have a tent I would like to send. I’m looking in to shipping costs to get mine to Mass. but let me know if you hear of anything happening in the NW.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Hi, We starting a fundraiser hoping we could collect a couple hundred tents in NV. Is there a more direct way of getting the tents to Haiti then shipping all these tents to the east coast? We believe we can raise funds to cover shipping cost.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:19 PM
I would really like to do something similar here in California but I just do not know how to organize it.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:42 AM
Hi I live in Bend Oregon and I am interested in heading up tent donations here and trying to get them to Haiti. Any more ideas on shipping or collaborating on shipping them?
January 28th, 2010 at 9:20 AM
Hi all, here at AAC headquarters we received a message from Mark Richey this morning that may be helpful:
“Please just respond to everyone to ship their tents to us in Newburyport as soon as they can and not worry about any deadline. We will continue to make additional shipments to Haiti as long as we keep receiving tents and sleeping bags.
Thanks for your support,
Mark”
January 28th, 2010 at 4:58 PM
Is anyone collecting them in South Florida? Let me know. Thanks.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:45 PM
The Arizona REI stores (both Paradise Valley and Tempe) are accepting new and used tent donations that will be sent daily to Assist those in Need, drop of any tents at REI and we will deliver them to those in need.
January 29th, 2010 at 1:51 PM
I’ll see what I can do out here on the west coast!
January 29th, 2010 at 8:58 PM
For the folks on the West Coast, the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Denver, CO is shipping donated tents. They’ve already sent a shipment, but I bet if enough people inquired, they’ll make another shipment.
1st Unitarian Universalist Church
4101 E. Hampden Ave.
Denver, CO 80222
http://cbs4denver.com/local/haiti.tents.donations.2.1432100.html
Also, I’m facebooking my donation to encourage others to do the same.
January 30th, 2010 at 1:52 PM
Hold off on tents is what I’m hearing from professional rescue groups on the ground. STaff don’t have time to help everyone figure out how to set up backpacking/camping tents, and these tents need to be sturdy enough to last many months. Instead, give money to groups who KNOW what they need.
January 30th, 2010 at 6:16 PM
Hello everyone, I am the President of a local charter of an International organization called Active 20/30. We mainly do things to benefit our own communities and children while creating friendship and professional growth opportunities. Any way… I live in Southern Oregon and am looking into a community tent drive for Haiti. We have clubs all over California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Indianapolis, Kansas and Ny, All of our club locations are on the web site and could gladly help get your tent donation to our Club in the Dominican Republic, which we all know is on the same island, and in a great position to help. If you would like more info please contact me, or someone through our national site.
stephany.murphy@rocketmail.com
active20-30.com
January 30th, 2010 at 6:49 PM
I have a 2 person sleep tent, nothing too big. It’s new, out of the box but never used. Could this be useful? Can I drop this off in person rather than ship to Newburyport? If so, are there certain hours for acceptable drop-off?
January 31st, 2010 at 6:12 AM
tents should now be a priority for haiti-great you are doing this-how can the program be expanded? if we could encourage college students to donate their tents we can make a difference?
do you know other places that are picking up tents?
thank you,
phyllis, friend of haiti
January 31st, 2010 at 2:48 PM
I have a couple of good tents that I can donate. Is there a drop off place in or closer to Boston by any chance?
Thanks
January 31st, 2010 at 7:53 PM
We took two tents to Harvest Time International. They had all sorts of items that will be sent to Haiti including tents. We live in Sanford, Florida.
February 1st, 2010 at 3:10 AM
[...] American Alpine Club Collecting Old Tents for Haiti – Great idea [...]
February 1st, 2010 at 6:59 AM
[...] The American Alpine Club has already sent one shipment of tents, and has called for outdoor heroes like you and me to help with a second shipment. Most needed are family-sized tents (though I’m sure anything will help.) You can find details and a mailing address here. [...]
February 1st, 2010 at 9:07 AM
We are in Sun Valley, ID (Blaine County) if anyone is around here and would like to donate…. please drop them off at the Environmental Resource Center
471 Washington Avenue N
Ketchum ID 83340
We will be putting together a drive!
February 5th, 2010 at 11:22 AM
I just went ahead and forwarded a tent to the Richeys. I have a friend organizing a large tent drive and is not sure how to get htme to Haiti. Do you have any idea of the volume of tents that the Richeys would be able to handle and ship if people were to make a large donation of tents?
February 5th, 2010 at 11:48 AM
I contacted the Richeys directly so I got my question answered. Thanks so much! They are wonderful people. Thanks so much for bringing this wonderful opportunity to give to my attention!!
February 6th, 2010 at 8:34 AM
My name is Kevin Winkler I have a tent company in Miami,Florida. I have over one million Sq.Feet of new and used tents in stock. I can not afford to donate 100 % however I am willing to rent or sell at 50% of the cost. Please contact me at 305-256-1012
February 8th, 2010 at 4:45 PM
I am organizing a tent drive in Groton, MA on March 6th and 7th. Will the Richeys take more tents after Feb. 12th?
February 17th, 2010 at 1:45 PM
Tents can also be dropped off in Boston at Shawmut Design and Construction. We will get them to Mark Richey Millwork.
February 17th, 2010 at 8:36 PM
HI THERE. WE ARE ALSO COLLECTING TENTS. OUR WEB SITE LAUNCHED LAST WEEK. WE HAEV 75 LOCATIONS NATIONWIDE, AND HAVE COLLECTED 700 TENTS NATIONWIDE. WE ARE PARTNERING WITH ANOTHER TENT DRIVE THAT COLLECTED 350 AND NEEDS HELP WITH SHIPPING. IF YOU ARE NOT NEAR THIS TENT DRIVE, AND YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A LOCATION NEAR YOU, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE. OUR DISTRIBUTION PARTNER IS WYCLEF JEAN AND YELE HAITI. WE SENT THEM 100 TENTS YESTERDAY. THANKS A BUNCH, AMY CHAMP, PHD CANDIDATE AT UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS. I’M ON FACEBOOK (AMY CHAMP IN SACRAMENTO AND ON TWITTER. HTTP://TWITTER.COM/AMYCHAMP
February 17th, 2010 at 8:38 PM
SORRY, I FORGOT TO PUT THE WEBSITE
HTTP://AHOMEINHAITI.COM
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS CAN BE EMAIL TO: SHAUNKING@COURAGEOUS.TV HE IS A PASTOR IN ATLANTA WHO HAS SPEARHEADED THE PROJECT.
February 20th, 2010 at 3:53 PM
As this seems to be a reoccuring problem worldwide,including the U.S., it seems wise to make it permanent with a regular collection at a seaport. These tents could have been on their way by boat in hours after the disaster. I would suggest getting the U.S. Postal, UPS, Fed Ex,military, and more involved with reduced rates for shipping and simple tags for mailing. No boxes. This would expediate shipping and encourage participation. Most people hate shipping because of boxes and labels not mailing.
I would be willing to participate in something like this on a regular basis. The turnaround for shipping in a disaster should be hours and days not weeks and months.
People are in need and few people can not figure out how to put up a tent without assistance. Most people have tents gathering dust somewhere. The time to get them is when they are looking for somewhere to dispose of them. If there were posters and websites to inform them of where to send them anytime it would be helpful. I gave 4 away last year. Please Email me if you are interested in doing this.
Charlotte Stahmann
March 7th, 2010 at 9:24 PM
I am in Little Rock Arkansas, need info on how to get container loads of tents into our churches in Haiti, any info would be greatly appreciated, time is of the essence, so please feel free to call me, 501.240.7088 Bret