Over $47K raised to sustain Haiti
Participants of the Sustain Haiti 5k raised $47,061 Nov. 6. This runner displays the T-shirt that runners and organizers wore during the event. Shane Maryott/UVU Review
Most want their dollars to stretch as far as possible. On Saturday, Nov. 6, students and community members had a chance to put their money to good use.
This particular Saturday was different for the 388 registered runners of the Sustain Haiti 5K race. Before the 9 a.m. start time, 75-plus employees of Pinnacle Security were volunteering their time to get the race set up.
The proceeds of the race, totaling $47,061, were raised from online runner registrations and donations along with fundraising and matching efforts of the corporate sponsors. The money will help the devastated country of Haiti via the nonprofit organization Sustain Haiti and the Net Impact Student Chapter at UVU.
Mikey Heinz, senior vice President of Installations at Pinnacle Security and President of UVU’s Net Impact Student Chapter, said that Pinnacle Security’s motivation was to “do more; [we] wanted to help out somehow, where we could be effective.”
Sustain Haiti is a nonprofit organization that focuses on teaching the people in Haiti ways to become more self-sufficient during the recovery process. Some of the things that they have done on previous trips to Haiti have been providing valuable training on sanitation and hygiene, teaching hands-on approaches in gardening and educating the Haitian people on clean water technology.
Another area that they have made a difference has been working to identify micro-enterprise candidates. All of these things have been done to help, as well as assisting with the cleanup and rebuilding efforts.
The most current and worrisome condition that the people of Haiti are facing is the spread of cholera. The disease is spreading through the consumption of contaminated drinking water and food. This leads to severe diarrhea and vomiting, which in turn can lead to dehydration. The tropical storm Tomas passed through recently, only increasing the chance for this devastating disease to spread.
For more information, visit the official web site for Sustain Haiti at http://SustainHaiti.Blogspot.com
To join the student chapter of Net Impact, contact faculty advisor Jonathan Westover at or become a friend with Net Impact on Facebook.
Proceeds raised to help Haiti: $47,061.
Sustain Haiti official website
http://SustainHaiti.Blogspot.com
Net Impact UVU chapter faculty advisor:
Jonathan Westover.
To get involved email Westover at