Maybe someday, there will be a new island formed just off the coast of Hawaii.STAR 88.3's Melissa Montana was sick of feeling powerless to help Haiti.
So Sunday night, along with hundreds of other area Christians, she did the only thing she knew of to make a difference: She donated money, sang at the top of her lungs and got on her knees and prayed.
Montana, president of the Christian rock station, hosted an emotional benefit for Haiti on Sunday night at Pathway Community Church off of Carroll Road. About 250 people from various churches came to the event, which raised money for Mission of Hope: Haiti. The charity, founded by two Huntington University alums, runs an orphanage, school and other social services out of Port-au-Prince.
The charity's main buildings were still standing after Tuesday's earthquake, according to Larry Lance, Mission of Hope developmental director.
All 80 orphans in the charity's care were alive and the group had enough in emergency food stores to hand out 100,000 meals on Saturday. But at least two teachers died, Lance said, and not all of the group's 110 Haitian staff had been accounted for.
The charity, which was being used as a makeshift hospital for the United Nations and U.S. authorities, was in need of more trucks to transport supplies, he said.
Halfway through the benefit, Lance used Skype, a service that allows people to talk to and see each other on their computers, to speak with Mission for Hope director Brad Johnson in Haiti.
As Johnson's face appeared on a large screen in front of the congregation, he urged them to keep the people of Haiti in their prayers in the coming days and in the future.
"In Haiti's darkest hour right now, it's time for churches to shine bright," he said. "We think 11,000 are displaced right here in our area. We're going to need help rebuilding. … We could feed a million and a half people tomorrow, but we'd still have a great need."
After Johnson spoke, there was more praying and several performances by Christian rock bands. Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd,spoke of the importance of adopting orphaned Haitian children in the wake of the disaster. The evening ended with a Haitian man singing a song in French.
Despite the depressing toll of the earthquake, Montana, Lance and other church leaders said the thin silver lining of the disaster was that it united Fort Wayne's Christian community.
Trent McBride and his son Jacob, 16, don't go to church at Pathway but came anyway to show their support for Haiti.
"We're the most developed country in the world, we need to help others in need when there's a disaster," Trent McBride said.
His son agreed, adding, "If you have the ability to do something, you should."
