Local businessman donates use of plane to take medical supplies, water treatment systems to Haiti

Local businessman donates use of plane to take medical supplies, water treatment systems to Haiti
By Patricia C. McCarter
January 20, 2010, 8:38AM
Michael Mercier
Pilot John Besheres tells passenger Troy Moore where to find a seat in the plane. They are flying medical supplies to the Dominican Republic. The supplies will travel by truck from there to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- A plane that flew out of the Madison County Executive Airport Tuesday morning and headed toward Haiti will deliver equipment to provide 100,000 gallons of clean water a day and a satellite imaging system that will allow local doctors to treat earthquake victims from afar.

And it's all being done by volunteers and benefactors who, quite simply, hurt at the thought of all the hurting going on in Haiti.

"I'm honored to help," said biotechnology entrepreneur Troy Moore shortly before he boarded the Pilatus PC12 Tuesday. "I just talked to guys on the other end, and we're good to go."

Fuel and use of the plane was donated by Huntsville businessman Alan Jenkins, who owns a third of the Pilatus. He got drawn into the relief effort by an e-mail plea sent out by the National Business Aviation Association.

"This is our maiden voyage in this capacity," Jenkins said. "Our hope is to do this again and again, as long as help is needed. Right now I was wishing the plane was 10 times bigger so that we could send 10 times as much stuff."

Initially, Jenkins believed he'd be loaning his plane to a crew from Doctors Without Borders or other nationally known relief groups. But because his plane was undergoing scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, those agencies traveled by other means.

Then CitiHope, a Haitian charity, contacted him and asked if he'd bring down some medical equipment and supplies collected in - of all places - Huntsville.

A collaboration of local professionals - many who own or run companies located in the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology - have worked for years to ease the plight of Haitians. Luke Doiron, along with Marshall Schreeder Jr., founded Conversant Healthcare Systems three years ago.

Dorion's father, a cardiologist in Knoxville, has performed countless hours of work with the Jimani Project, which is in the Dominican Republic about seven miles from the border with Haiti. He's brought his son with him there for numerous medical mission trips, as well as other troubled spots around the world.

"Our group supports 20 orphanages in Haiti, and at least half of them have collapsed," Doiron said.

Side by side, they've helped build the Bon Samaritan Hospital and orphanage in the Dominican village of Jimani. When they learned that the U.S. government had transported more than 100 doctors to the hospital to tend to Haitians injured in last week's devastating earthquake, they knew they had to go.

Dr. Clint Doiron is in Haiti now, performing operations on the victims.

Officials estimate 200,000 have been killed, and that number is sure to rise if medical help isn't delivered soon.

Some of the supplies on the plane include 10 water purifying systems, donated by Servants in Faith and Technology out of Lineville, and each of those systems can sanitize 10,000 gallons of water a day.

A Cisco TelePresence imaging system being sent over will allow doctors and radiologists in Huntsville to read X-rays and "visit" with Haitian patients and then recommend treatment.

Also, boxes of braces, scalpels, IV medications and splints were part of the cargo. Though plenty of volunteers would have been happy to go on the trip, only two pilots and Moore were on the plane. The rest of the space was used for equipment. Others hope to make the trip in coming weeks.

On future trips, the volunteers want to bring food - dried beans, rice, powdered milk - with them. Donations can be dropped off at HudsonAlpha at 6900 Moquin Drive in Cummings Research Park.

Donations made to Trinity United Methodist Church on Airport Drive, Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Madison and Madison Academy will be passed along to the group.

The progress of the group can be tracked at haitifooddrive.blogspot.com

Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions: email us at haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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