While emergency efforts bring immediate relief to Haiti, Craig Juntunen, founder of Chances for Children, launched the "Haiti Renewal Fund" January 19. The fund, designed to assist in a fresh renewal of the devastated nation of Haiti, opens with an initial matching grant of $2 million from Jackson Hole residents Lynn and Foster Friess augmented by a subsequent $1 million from Childhelp, drawn from donations specifically designated to the fund.
"In a few weeks or months the enormous worldwide relief effort in Haiti will meet food, water and shelter needs, but what then?" said Juntunen, who will be raising additional monies for the fund.
Juntunen's Chances for Children foundation operates an orphanage near Port-au-Prince and last year placed 36 Haitian orphans in adoptive families. It will expand to meet the soaring number of newly-orphaned children and also encourage Cure International, an organization that operates hospitals in nearby Dominican Republic and Honduras, in its goal to open a new children's hospital in Haiti.
Water Mission International adds water purification units to the equation and Childhelp brings its 50 years of experience of serving five million abused children. Phoenix attorney, sculptor and Cure International board member Marilyn Quayle; her husband former Vice President Dan Quayle and "Charlie's Angels" star Cheryl Ladd will advise Georgia-based National Christian Foundation, the fund administrator, on allocation of funds.