By Bri Thomas

As the cast of “Once on this Island” danced and sang across the auditorium, Ecology club raised money for Haiti–the setting of the musical.

“It was basically because of the fact that ‘Once on this Island’ is based on Haiti,” freshman Mystie Bracken said.

Director of the musical, Marya Lucca-Thyberg, and her husband, Steve Thyberg, the sponsor of Ecology club, decided to team up in order to help Haiti during the country’s struggle and make the musical a success. Before the musical began, Lucca-Thyberg informed the audience that Ecology was accepting donations and were happy to give information about their goal.

“First, we had a long discussion about ways we could change society,” sophomore Michael Maybe said.

Raise money in order to plant trees became the group’s plan. In 2010 an earthquake stuck Haiti wiping out several cities in the region and killing an estimated 100,000. Damage is still overwhelming; the once tropical island is now dealing with ruins of homes, buildings, and anything damaged by the earthquake. Many benefits are still raising money in order to get the country back on track.

“A couple people researched on how we could help with Haiti’s economy. So, we all sat down and decided what would be the most helpful,” Bracken said.

On friday, the second to last day of the play, Ecology club had only raised $40. To try to be closer to their goal of $500 they decided to move their table closer to the doorway in attempt to talk to people more directly. The idea worked; by Saturday $245 was donated. The club’s attempt to raise $500 was not met, but the group will send what was donated and continue to raise awareness.