PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2010
Richmond, Virginia
LA DIFFERENCE MAKES MAJOR DONATION
virginians4haiti RECIPIENT OF $25,000 FROM RECENT SALE
virginians4haiti, a Richmond based medical and humanitarian non-profit relief organization formed
following the earthquake in Haiti, has received a donation of $25,000 from La Difference, a locally
acclaimed retail furniture store in Shockoe Bottom. Andy Thornton and Sarah Paxton, owners of La
Difference made the presentation to Allan B. Harvie, Jr., Executive Director of virginians4haiti.
“We recently held our 30th Anniversary sale and, as is our tradition, we select one or several nonprofits to benefit from the sale proceeds,” stated Andy Thornton. “I worked in Haiti prior to starting
La Diff and have a special place in my heart for those wonderful people. Our La Diff staff wanted to
help in some way with the Haitian situation and virginians4haiti provided us with a perfect format.”
“It is our belief that, as Americans we aren’t just responsible to help those in our backyards but also to
keep in mind that we are part of a global community and we need to provide assistance anywhere that
it is needed,” added Sarah Paxton. “We are very proud of the work being done by Allan and
virginians4haiti and encourage others to see what they might be able to do to help with the recovery of
this impoverished nation.”
“This donation from Andy, Sarah and the staff at La Diff is huge and will assist us with continuing our
work in Haiti,” stated Mr. Harvie. “The consensus seems to be that Haiti has received plenty of money
but the reality is that less than 3% of the money promised has actually been received. The physical
situation in Haiti now is not much different than it was on January 13th, the day after the quake. We
have undertaken a huge project in Jacmel and are in the process of moving over 1,500 families (around
7,500 people) to a new community we are building which includes a school, orphanage, church and
medical center plus homes for these families. The cost of the project exceeds $6 million so this
donation will go a long way towards the completion of this long term project.”
“This is not a one-time donation to virginians4haiti from La Diff,” stated Mr. Thornton. “We are in
this for the long haul to help out any way we can. I am planning to accompany them on a future trip to
see what we can do to help virginians4haiti with the completion of Project Jacmel.”
virginians4haiti (virginians4haiti.org) can be contacted at virginians4haiti@gmail.com or 804-6444530. La Diff is located at 125 South 14th Street (804-648-5210) or on the web at www.ladiff.com.
(From Left) Andrew Thornton, Allan B. Harvie, Jr. & Sarah Paxton.
Owners of LaDifference presenting the donation of $25,000 to virginians4haiti.