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www.independentfreepress.com Ted Brown............... 7 Calendar ...... 19, 24 Sports ........... 20, 21 Directory .......26, 27 Classified...... 28, 29 50 Cents (+ GST) Circulation: 22,800 A MESH OF TROUBLE A local woman says she lucky to be alive after recent hernia surgery PAGE 3 YOU AND YOUR PET Sweet Sassy could use a cat-free home PAGE 25 48 Pages Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS THURSDAY, January 14, 2010 I said, `Duck', dad! Silvana Flores, 7, found a new use for her rubber ducky as she squirted dad Ruben with it while her brother Marcello, 6, kept an eye on them from a safe distance. The Flores' were among the many who enjoyed some family time at the Gellert Community Centre pool recently, to ward off the cold of winter. Photo by Ted Brown Local charity workers fear for Haitian friends, family By LISA TALLYN Staff Writer Local residents with ties to Haiti are waiting anxiously to hear news from the country after Tuesday's powerful earthquake crushed buildings and is feared to have killed thousands of people. A spokesperson for the Canadian Red Cross said Wednesday the scene in PortAu-Prince is one of absolute devastation that Haiti may never recover from. Georgetown resident Eric Doubt, executive director of Healing Hands for Haiti International, which provides physical medicine and rehabilitation for the 800,000 Haitian residents with disabilities, said Wednesday he had been up all night trying to get information on the 46 Haiti residents who work at the organization's headquarters in Port-Au-Prince and on the condition of the facility after the deadly quake. Doubt said he's heard from two of the facility's employees, who were unhurt, but did not have any information on the others or the state of the organization's sixacre compound that includes medical and prosthetic clinics and a guesthouse for visiting medical volunteers. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed," said Doubt. "The news gets worse every hour." He said the organization was to soon hold an emergency board meeting to determine whether they will send a medical team from Minnesota to Haiti, that was already prepared to go there on a Healing Hands mission Saturday. Doubt said they don't know if it's safe to go and if the roads or airports are open. "We're constantly trying to get information to make decisions about sending a team, and what kind of team." He said if the facility is intact it could possibly be used as an emergency response location and to handle emergency rehabilitation cases for those injured during the earthquake (for example brain and spinal injuries and loss of limbs.) Doubt said they have given permission to staff from a nearby orphanage that collapsed in the earthquake to use the facility to house the orphans if the building is safe. See LOCALS, pg. 9 APPLE We handle all insurance work. GEORGETOWN CHRYSLER Auto Glass® Georgetown 2010 Touareg TDI Clean Diesel 8 vehicles in stock and ready for immediate delivery, while they last. Volkswagen Defending 203 Guelph Street 9 0 5 . 8 7 7. 5 2 8 5 georgetownvw.com champion ·Truck Accessories ·Upholstery ·Heavy Equipment Glass ·Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown (905) 873-1655