Haiti was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in early October. Haiti suffered some of the worst conditions of the storm. The hurricane destroyed many homes leaving millions displaced. There have been countless humanitarian responses from dozens of organizations. As a community, Curtis ran a successful food drive to provide aid.

Hurricane Matthew was a Category 5 hurricane according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale, which is a classification of hurricanes and cyclones. The storm had winds up to 160 miles per hour, and intense pressures. The storm was unlike anything Haiti had faced since Hurricane Felix in 2007. The Haitian government held an insufficient amount of relief resources to provide for its people following the storm, and it requested humanitarian assistance to the United Nations, where funds were acquired from member nations. The UN provided the food, resources and peacekeeping officers to all those affected by the storm.

As a community, Curtis took action as well to aid the Haitian people. Curtis held a food drive for two weeks following the storm that received a heartwarming amount of support and donations. The food drive collected canned goods, nonperishable foods, diapers, baby wipes and many other items. The drive was organized by COSA, Mr. Cogan, and father of Curtis junior, Kimara Jean-Marie.

Jean-Marie’s father is a member of the Haitian American Law Enforcement Fraternal Organization, which allowed him to organize and sponsor such an event. The agency delivered the donations to the victims themselves.

Jean Marie is of Haitian descent, so she and her family had a strong emotional attachment to the cause. “We just wanted to help our people in anyway we could” she said.