Gearing Up to Help Haiti

Caring people on the East End often step into the breach to help when there is a local or even worldwide need. Following the destruction of Hurricane Matthew earlier this month, there are efforts to assist those in Haiti, where the damage was catastrophic.

An event called Hearts Out for Haiti on Saturday at 668 the Gig Shack in Montauk will raise money to buy water filters and solar chargers and for direct relief efforts in that country. Beginning at 8 p.m., the fund-raiser will include live music by Manny and by the Sturdy Souls, as well as food, a raffle, and a cash bar. Tickets will be $20 at the door.

It was organized by Kyle Siegel, a Montauk native and yoga teacher who plans to go to Haiti himself as soon as possible with the supplies and to assist in relief efforts there.

With the devastation throughout Haiti, and subsequent cholera outbreaks, the ability for laypeople to assist at present is limited. But Mr. Siegel said this week that he would continue to raise money locally through benefits until volunteers are once again accepted, at which point he will personally deliver the aid and other supplies.

“Once I saw the devastation — seeing the images. . . . Every day the death toll is rising,” he said. A massive earthquake in Haiti several years ago took its toll, and the poverty-stricken country has yet to recover. Mr. Siegel said the effects of the earthquake-hurricane double whammy galvanized him into action.

Melissa Berman, a Montauk resident who, after Hurricane Sandy, organized East End Cares, a volunteer group that has since mobilized around several other causes, also got busy after the hurricane. Through Facebook posts she quickly raised money for the purchase of solar chargers, needed to keep communications equipment going in disaster areas, and water filters, which a volunteer delivered.

Wings Over Haiti, a relief group organized by Jonathan Nash Glynn of Sag Harbor after the 2010 earthquake, is planning a fund-raiser for early December.