Weeping was Jennifer Larson’s first reaction.
“After the earthquake, I sat and cried and cried,” the Camano Island woman said Monday.
She is still rocked by images of the 7.0-magnitude quake and its aftermath, but there’s no time to cry.
“I wanted to do something,” Larson said.
To start, she baked banana bread.
She took loaves door to door in her Thunder Ridge neighborhood on Camano’s south end. Larson was amazed when her banana bread earned more than $300 for relief in Haiti.
The quake-ravaged country is not only close to Larson’s heart, it’s part of her family.
In December 2008, she and her husband traveled to Haiti, to an orphanage supported by the nonprofit Chances for Children. They brought home a frail, malnourished 2-year-old boy.
Today, Jeremiah “Ansito” Larson is a thriving 3-year-old. Jennifer and Aaron Larson’s adopted son has settled in with four siblings, 9-year-old Kaitlin; A.J., 8; Madeline, 7; and 4-year-old Luke.
“He is the love of our life,” Jennifer Larson said.
Horrified by the quake and mindful of poverty she saw in Port-au-Prince even before the city’s destruction, Larson continued the bake-for-Haiti effort. With baked goods from neighbors, Camano Chapel church friends, teachers at Camano’s Elger Bay Elementary school, and stores in the area, Larson hosted a sale at her home last weekend. When the goodies kept coming, what was planned as a Saturday bake sale was extended to Sunday.
“Her doorbell was ringing, she didn’t even know some of the people,” said Katie Riehl, Jennifer Larson’s sister.
By Monday, Larson said, more than $7,000 had been raised, and was destined to boost an Everett Clinic donation to Red Cross efforts in Haiti.
Larson, Riehl and their mother, Robin Vogl, all work at the Everett Clinic. Vogl works at the information desk. Riehl is in the ophthalmology department, and Larson works part-time in the gastroenterology department.
On Friday, sweet treats will come to the Monte Cristo room of the Everett Clinic Conference Center. Larson has arranged to hold a fundraising bake sale there from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What started with banana bread is turning into serious money for earthquake aid.
Everett Clinic spokeswoman April Zepeda said that shortly after the quake, clinic chief executive officer Rick Cooper sent an e-mail to employees. He let workers know that the clinic would match up to $25,000 any donations made for Haiti relief to the Everett Clinic Foundation.
“So far, we’ve raised $47,147 from the clinic doctors, staff and what Jennifer has already raised,” Zepeda said. With the match, she said, the gift to the Red Cross will be at least $72,147 — and that’s before Friday’s bake sale.
It’s just one example of countless acts of generosity being extended to the people of Haiti.
In Mukilteo, Pam Campbell and Tim Taylor are gathering new and gently used shoes. They were inspired by news reports of Molly Hightower, the Port Orchard woman killed in Haiti. As a volunteer with Friends of the Orphans in Haiti, Hightower had initiated a shoe drive.
“I’m just very touched by her story,” Campbell said. “We heard about her shoe mission, and now we’re up to five drop-off sites.” Campbell said she’ll deliver shoes donated by Sunday to the Tacoma workplace of Mike Hightower, Molly’s father, who is continuing what Campbell calls “Molly’s Mission.”
On Camano Island, the Larsons cherish their Haitian-born child and mourn all those lost.
“Seeing the earthquake, it wasn’t just about Jeremiah. It was about being there,” Jennifer Larson said. “The people need help. Everyone can make a difference.”
What you can do
A bake sale to raise funds for Red Cross efforts in Haiti is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday in the Monte Cristo room of the Everett Clinic Conference Center. It’s open to the public. 3830 Hoyt Ave., Everett.
Molly’s Mission is a Mukilteo effort to add to the charity work of Molly Hightower, a Port Orchard woman killed in the Haiti earthquake. New and gently used shoes donated by Sunday will be delivered to Hightower’s father in Tacoma, and will be shipped to Haiti. Donation sites in Mukilteo:
Wine 101, 11601 Harbour Pointe Blvd., No. 1-101
Weller’s Speedway Cafe, 8490 Mukilteo Speedway
Harbour Pointe Auto Bath, 11400 Mukilteo Speedway
State Farm Insurance, 12308 Mukilteo Speedway
Red Cup Cafe, 619 Fourth St.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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