Hamptons Artists Benefit Helps Build School in Haiti

For a second year, about 40 prominent Hamptons artists are coming together at the Watermill Center on Saturday, June 30 to raise funds for a much-needed school for children on the island of Haiti. They plan to rebuild in the remote agricultural village of Ranquitte, where a school for 400 once stood.

The funds raised at this Hamptons Artists for Haiti benefit would accommodate 160 students from pre-K through 12th grade at the new facility. This is the second school to be built in Haiti by Wings Over Haiti, a nonprofit founded by Jonathan Nash Glynn, a Sag Harbor artist and pilot who flew medical supplies to the Caribbean island in his private plane following the devastating earthquake in 2010.

While there, he helped raise funds and built a school for 137 children and 21 faculty members, near the capital of Port Au Prince.

Long Island schools, especially Bridgehampton, Southampton and Port Jefferson, have supported these kids with school supplies and clothing drives. Both this school and the proposed new one will provide two meals a day and medical attention.

Last year, Wings Over Haiti raised over $30,000 toward this project with a similar benefit, attended by about 200 people. The benefit and silent art auction will take place from 5:30–8:30 p.m. next Saturday, with an open bar, hors d’oeuvres from Sea Bean Catering and live music by Solar Wind. There will be art and raffle tickets for sale, and all profits will go toward the new school.

The Watermill Center is located at 39 Water Mill Towd Road. Call Jonathan Nash Glynn at 917-721-3223 or visit wingsoverhaiti.net for more details.