Updated on February 18, 2010
Yele Haiti will receive only $1 million (2.8%) of the $66 million raised by Hope For Haiti Now. Find out how Hope for Haiti Now money is being distributed.
Wyclef Jean's Yéle Haiti foundation is soliciting donations to be utilized in the Haitian earthquake relief effort, and Jean has already been to Haiti to provide hands-on support. However, some are questioning the organization's fiscal history and whether a grassroots organization such as Yéle Haiti can effectively disseminate the millions of dollars they have received from donors.
Yele Haiti Background and History
Native Haitian and musician Wyclef Jean provides support to his birth country through Yéle Haiti, an extension of the foundation he originally formed in 1994. The organization describes itself as “a grassroots movement that builds global awareness for Haiti while helping to transform the country through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment.”
Yéle Haiti funds thousands of scholarships for Haitian children, and provided support to residents after Hurricane Jeanne damaged northwestern Haiti in 2004. The foundation was incorporated in Florida as The Wyclef Jean Foundation in 1998. In late 2009, the foundation was formally renamed Yéle Haiti.
Associated Press and The Smoking Gun Findings on Yele Haiti
Both the Associated Press and the website The Smoking Gun have investigated Yéle Haiti’s financial records. Among their findings:
- Florida Division of Corporations has sanctioned Yéle Haiti four times in the past five years, for such infractions as failing to provide annual reports and failing to identify the foundation’s key officers and directors.
- Three of the five Yéle Haiti board members are also involved with Jean’s music and business endeavors.
- Although the foundation was incorporated and has been active since 1998, Yéle Haiti’s first tax return was filed in August 2009 for the years 2005-2007.
- An IRS tax return for 2006 shows that the foundation paid $250,000 to purchase airtime from Telemax S.A., a Haitian television station majority owned by Jean and and board member Jerry Duplessis. Yéle Haiti president Hugh Locke stated that the money partially paid for a benefit concert by Jean.
- "Another $160,000 that year was spent on a concert in Monte Carlo that Jean participated in, of which $75,000 paid for backup singers and $25,000 went to Jean through a company he owns with Duplessis, Platinum Sound Recording Studios Inc.," Locke said. 'We were paying that to Platinum Sound because that covered the cost of him participating in the event.' Locke argued that the foundation took in 'several hundred thousand' dollars in exchange for Jean’s work through the proceeds of an auction." (AP, January 15, 2010)
Jean has twice responded to his critics and to the Yéle Haiti controversy. On January 16, he released both a written and video statement, and on January 18, Jean held a press conference.
Wyclef Jean’s January 16 Statements (Press Release & Video)
In video and written statements posted to yele.org and YouTube, Jean responded to his critics. “I first learned of these baseless attacks when I left Haiti late Friday, where I had been since 12 hours after the earthquake," Jean said in the written statement. “These baseless allegations were first put forward by a fringe website [The Smoking Gun] with a history of pursuing sensationalist story lines.
“Let me be clear: I denounce any allegation that I have ever profited personally through my work with Yéle Haiti. The fact that these attacks come as we are mobilized to meet the greatest human tragedy in the history of Haiti only serves to perplex me even further.”
"After digging kids up...and finding cemeteries for them and the morgue being over-flooded, this is what I come back to." says Jean in a video statement posted to YouTube on January 16. "I never...take money for my personal pocket when it comes to Yéle. I myself have put $1 million inside of my own foundation, so not only I denounce all of that, I'm disgusted by that."
Wyclef Jean’s January 18 Press Conference
Jean also held an emotional press conference on January 18 defending his work and Yéle Haiti. "I started the charity with my own funds. I wanted to make sure that Yéle would not just be a foundation, but it would actually be an NGO [non-government organization] on the ground in Haiti, because that's the only way that I could be effective to the Haitian people.
"Have we made mistakes before? Yes. Did I ever use Yéle money for personal benefits? Absolutely not. […] Yéle's books are open and transparent, and we have [had] a clean bill of health by an external auditor every year since we started.
“My people are dying, and I have to go back to the ground in a few days for a mission relief." After speaking tearfully to the Haitian people in their own language, Jean translated in part: "Just permit us a little time. We're going to be back on the ground on Saturday, and we'll be back on he ground every week until we help the situation."
Yele Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts
Yéle Haiti has raised millions of dollars (several reports estimate $2 million in the first two days alone) since the January 12, 2010, earthquake just outside of Port-Au-Prince. Much of this has been in the form of individual $5 donations sent via text message.
In addition to monetary donations, Yéle Haiti organized a collection effort in Miami for supplies to be airlifted to Haiti later this week. Yéle Haiti requested survival supplies such as nutrition bars, blankets, solar or wind-up radios & flashlights, and candles. Yéle Haiti president John Locke says that $1.5 million has been earmarked for this emergency airlift, which is scheduled to leave for Haiti later this week with the assistance of Federal Express and Airline Ambassadors.
Wyclef Jean arrived in Haiti to provide support 12 hours after the devastating earthquake hit. He has returned to the United States, in part to co-host the Hope For Haiti telethon on January 22, and plans to return to Haiti on January 23.
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Sources:
- Yéle Haiti Foundation (www.yele.org)
- Groups that vet charities see problems in Haitian-born Wyclef Jean's charitable organization, Associated Press, January 15, 2010
- The Smoking Gun, Wyclef’s Skipping Record & Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money (www.thesmokinggun.com)
- Press Release, Statement by Wyclef Jean in response to the accusations against Yéle Haiti, January 16, 2010
- VIDEO: Wyclef’s Personal Statement on the accusations against Yele Haiti, January 16, 2010 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDE8YJac0Wc)
- VIDEO: Wyclef Jean’s Press Conference Defends Charity, January 18, 2010 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3UYXd7jYqk)
Christine E. Taylor - Christine E. Taylor is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Christine is currently writing a series of articles ...
