Activating the Montreal fashion industry for disaster relief - Nearly 30,000
items of new clothing for Haiti disaster relief

MONTREAL, April 6 /CNW Telbec/ - The Montreal garment industry, under the umbrella of Mode Support, has shipped nearly 30,000 new items of clothing for the survivors of the January earthquake in Haiti. Mode Support is an initiative organized by real estate firm Groupe Dayan in association with the Regroupement pour le développement et la promotion du quartier Chabanel and other partners.

Mode Support is working in collaboration with the Centre For International Studies and Cooperation (CECI), a non-profit organization engaged in charitable activities in Haiti for 40 years, to ensure that all donations are safely and securely delivered directly into the hands of the people most in need.

More than 20 Montreal-area companies answered the appeal for donations, providing all types of clothing from undergarments to kidswear.

During the first two weeks of March, Mode Support received donations of new clothing items (not older than four years) at a warehouse, staffed and operated by volunteers, offered by Groupe Dayan in the Chabanel garment neighbourhood. Once transported to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the clothing will be distributed by CECI to those in need within four days of arriving in Haiti.

"The fashion industry can make a difference," said Georges Dayan, President of Groupe Dayan and spokesperson for Mode Support. "According to non-governmental organizations working on the ground, most notably our partner CECI, clothing is one of the top 5 priorities for Haiti disaster relief. However, currently not enough subsidies are being committed to this particular need. The Montreal fashion industry is therefore in a unique position to make a significant and meaningful contribution. I would like to thank all our donors for answering our appeal to help those in need, in particular Mark Edwards Apparel for their large donation."

Luck Mervil, Haitian-Canadian artist and CECI spokesperson, added: "The last few months have been catastrophic for millions of people, but they have also raised our conscience on how we need each other. We have seen that anything is possible in the name of solidarity. On behalf of our colleagues working hard in Haiti in spite of their grief and the challenging circumstances, and on behalf of the disaster victims we are helping, we thank the Montreal fashion industry for their gracious contribution."

The first delivery of clothing to Haiti was made last week, and Mode Support is continuing to collect donations from the Montreal garment industry for future shipments.

About Mode Support

Mode Support is an initiative organized by Groupe Dayan, in association with the Regroupement pour le développement et la promotion du quartier Chabanel and other partners. Mode Support aims to mobilize the Canadian fashion and apparel industry to help victims of natural disasters and displaced populations. For more information, please visit http://www.modesupport.com/.

About the Centre For International Studies and Cooperation (CECI)

The CECI is a Canadian international development and cooperation NGO that has spent the past five decades fighting poverty and exclusion among the most marginalized populations in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The CECI has been providing emergency humanitarian aid for 15 years.

CECI video on the need for sustainable reconstruction in Haiti (with volunteer Philippe Fehmiu):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FGyuRWkOK0.

    
                     Mode Support donors (first delivery)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Trio Group      Femme de Carrière    Groupe Corwik     Arnella of Canada
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mark Edwards    Krickets             Report            Deux par Deux
    Apparel Inc.                         Collection
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Jack Spratt     Dom Rebel Threads    Bestseller        Blush
    Inc.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Votre Nom...    Simon Chang          Guido and Mary    Almo Group
    Paris
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    KTH Sportswear  La Griffe
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

                    Mode Support donors (second delivery)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Buffalo         Projekraw            Rudsak            BEDO
    David Bitton
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Lana Lee        Château              Lingerie
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Mode Support partners

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Corporation     Omnitrans            Cohn & Wolfe
    de
    développement
    économique
    communautaire
    (CDEC)
    Ahuntsic-
    Cartierville
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Canadian        3CE                  L.A.C. Shipping
    Apparel
    Federation/
    Vêtement
    Québec
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Groupe Dayan    5/5 Communication    Robert Transport
                    Marketing
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

For further information: Douglas Chow, Cohn & Wolfe / Montreal, [phone], ext. 236, [email protected]