Edmonton philanthropist and agricultural entrepreneur Frank Flaman donated $500,000 to Haitian relief efforts last week, saying he couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
Moved by the photographs and stories emerging from Haiti after a Jan. 12 earthquake, the founder of Flaman Group of Companies first announced a $250,000 donation to Salvation Army, and then decided to give the same amount to Oxfam.
“I’m the kind of guy, I just can’t look the other way,” he said.
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Some officials have estimated 200,000 are dead and millions are homeless.
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As of Jan. 18, 11 Canadians were among the dead. Another 850 were unaccounted for.
Flaman said all relief organizations do good work. He chose the Salvation Army and Oxfam for their focus on quickly providing water, food, emergency shelter and clothing.
He added that other businesses should follow suit.
“This is as much as we can afford,” he said. “I hope it will do a lot of good.”
The donation was large for a company of Flaman’s size, said general manager Rocky Hanson, prompting Flaman to point out that other, larger businesses have “a lot more money than I do.”
The Alberta government contributed the same amount as Flaman, while Saskatchewan donated $250,000 and Manitoba pledged $100,000.
