Left to right: Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President, New York Board of Rabbis, Mr. Joseph Hess, Vice President for Government Relations-Jewish National Fund, Wyclef Jean, Congressman Charles Rangel (NY), Russell F. Robinson, CEO Jewish National Fund and Rabbi Dr. Eric M. Lankin, Chief of Institutional Advancement and Education Jewish National Fund
On Monday, Feb. 22, Wyclef Jean joined rabbis from the New York City area at the Jewish National Fund to discuss the current crisis in Haiti and how the Jewish community could help. Wyclef shared some of what Yele Haiti is doing to support the relief efforts there and his vision for the needs for Haiti over the long-term.
Even before the earthquake in January, the JNF had been working with Yéle Haiti and The Timberland Company to address the environmental degradation of Haiti, which has less than two percent tree cover remaining — and the need is even more pronounced today. Because the JNF has such a long history of environmental stewardship (108 years of planting 240 million trees and building 1,000 parks in Israel) they are perfectly suited to advise on the how this much-needed strategy fits in to the long-term recovery plan over the next several years.
