Poems for Haiti

“Send a poem. Make a donation. Save a nation.” So goes the motto of a new blog, www.poets4haiti.blogspot.com, created by Rockville Center resident Tony Iovino just under two weeks ago. Iovino, a lawyer by day and an active participant in Long Island's literary community, started the blog Jan. 22 in the hopes of encouraging donations to reputable charities assisting rebuilding efforts in Haiti.

“I like to help out where I can,” Iovino said, adding that he has received thousands of submissions in just a few days, from as close as New Jersey to as far away as Thailand.

The blog works like this: writers submit a poem to Iovino, and make a donation to a reputable charity. They are asked to disclose the name of the charity they donated to, and if they wish, the amount of money they pledged. Iovino then publishes each poem on the site, with the author's name and the charity's name. He does not publish the amount of each individual donation, but is keeping a running tally to calculate how much money the effort has raised.

While Iovino admits that the reporting is based on the honor system, he hopes each writer is being truthful about his or her donation. At last check, Iovino posted that the effort had raised more than $2,300 based on reported donations.

Even though he sent out hundreds of emails, Iovino said he was still surprised by how quickly the project grew. He tapped into writers' communities he already knew about, and searched for local and national groups to help get the word out. Iovino already knows a large network of writers through the Summer Gazebo Readings, a free outdoor series he helped create in Oceanside in 2007. For the past three years, the series has featured authors each Monday in June, July and August. The readings take place at Schoolhouse Green, at Foxhurst Road between Oceanside Road and Long Beach Road. The area has become a gathering place for the community, enhanced by the reading series, which drew over 120 people at its peak this past summer, according to Iovino.