United's Haiti mission flights continue, groups provide relief

The children looked at their hands, over and under.

They were covered with gloves. Probably for the first time ever.

Wednesday morning, those refugees had left earthquake-ravaged Haiti, where temperatures soared in the 80s, and now they were welcomed by Chicago's icy rain, along with hats and blankets. And gloves.

"They kept staring at their hands," said Brian Rowland of Bartlett, manager of the A Safe Haven Foundation, which oversees 15 facilities run by the Chicago Christian Industrial League that aids the homeless in Chicago. "They obviously never had gloves on their hands before. They were covered with blankets and looked very tired."

Rowland and his team, along with the Red Cross, city and state authorities, and catering groups all helped about 80 people, who disembarked a United Airlines mission flight Wednesday. Another 180 people were expected Thursday night. More will be arriving on various flights that United has committed to helping Haiti refugees as they seek shelter from the chaos.

The organizations helped to settle the people in for the night, provided clean beds, bathing facilities and even helped with travel arrangements. On Thursday morning, about 20 left Chicago for New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Atlanta. On Friday morning, another group of 39 were expected to leave Chicago for those cities, as well as cities in Florida.

"We saw people who were through unbelievable conditions, just a terrible tragedy, and they were tired and worn out but still had a look of confidence and determination," said Mark Mulroe of Arlington Heights, vice president of A Safe Haven Foundation.

The first group helped each other, embraced each other and then dealt with a processing session to document who they were and their medical needs, Mulroe said. "We kept the families together," he said.

Arlington Heights resident and Haiti native Philippe Gaspard, a 20-year United Airlines employee described the destruction in his homeland as "beyond imagination." Gaspard's brother and sister live in Haiti. Both were unhurt.

Of the relief efforts, Gaspard said, "It's good everybody is pitching in. It (the recovery effort) is taking shape down there."

Chicago resident Marsha McVicker adopted her 18-month-old son Max from Haiti. He arrived home in November. She said officials in Haiti worked miracles to get her son to her, and she intends to repay them by assisting quake survivors any way she can.

"I'm here to lend comfort and support," she said.

After the first group was processed at the O'Hare Hilton on Wednesday night, they were invited to eat at a buffet provided by Addison-based Corky's Catering. It included Haitian-style roasted chicken with red beans and rice and other fixings, said Corky's owner and President Jeremiah Green.

"When I first saw them, I breathed a sigh of relief that they all made it," said Green.

And these groups, and others, will be doing this again and again for up to 30 times.

United Airlines plans to operate up to 30 mission flights to the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Those days will be determined by the slots the airline receives from Southern Command, which is part of the military. Whether those upcoming flights change in any way will be determined after company executives review the initial flight experiences on Wednesday and Thursday, said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski Janikowski.

"(It's) important to know that much of the mission is outside our control as the airport is run by Southern Command and the passengers who fly with us back to the U.S. are given to us by the State Department," said Urbanski Janikowski.

Some of the fuel has been donated and the planes that United uses for the mission are ones that are not planned for use on that day, to ensure the airline's regular operations run as usual.

United, which has had financial problems since emerging from bankruptcy a few years ago, doesn't yet know the costs to operate the Haiti flights, said Urbanski Janikowski.

The pilots and flight attendants donated their time on Wednesday's flight to bring more awareness to the public to donate to the Haiti cause, said Sara Nelson, a United flight attendant and spokeswoman for United's Association of Flight Attendants

She said the United Airlines Foundation will match up to $50,000 the amount donated toward Haiti relief.

"We had more than enough volunteers to help out," Nelson said.

Sonya Jackson, president of the United Airlines Foundation, described the refugees as "incredibly tired, many of them slept" on the flight back to the U.S. As for the children, they occupied themselves playing with donated toys and coloring books, Jackson said. "Everybody was sort of out of it."

Jackson suggested that many may have felt the full impact of the disaster on their flight to the U.S.

"Once they had a chance to settle down and reflect, they started to grieve," she said.

As the mission continues, she felt hopeful.

"Our aspiration is to bring our planes back full," Jackson said.

•Daily Herald Staff Writer Barbara Vitello contributed to this report.