The Haiti Support Project and the National Council of Negro Women kicked off a 30-day fundraising campaign Monday for Haitian families displaced since the coup that removed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The "Lend a Helping Hand to Haiti Campaign" is supported by black organizations such as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Muslim American Freedom Foundation and American Urban Radio Networks -- the largest black-owned radio network in the country with headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh talk-radio host Bev Smith -- the Oprah Winfrey of radio -- will be the daily primary broadcaster for the campaign. Smith's local show (WAMO 860 AM weekdays 10 p.m.-2 a.m. and Saturdays noon-2 a.m.) airs over American Urban Radio Network's 475 radio stations nationwide. Smith kicked off the campaign on her show March 15 with Ron Daniels, national organizer for the Cruising into History/Haiti 2004 Initiative that includes the Haiti Support Project and a Haiti trip this August (see "Get on the Boat," News Briefs, March 10). "Lend a Helping Hand ..." is seeking donations from churches, fraternities, sororities and other civic organizations.
