About S4S
Sails for Sustenance was founded in 2006 by two University of Miami students, Michael Laas and Michael Carcaise. Since our first shipment of 14 sails, we have expanded into almost every corner of the US sailing community.
Since those first 14 sails, we have donated over ten tons of sails and other items to the subsistence fishermen of Haiti. We continue to send entire shipping containers full of sails to subsistence fishermen in the Haitian villages of Ile-a-Vache, Abricots, Jeremie, and Port-au-Prince.
Since those first 14 sails, we have donated over ten tons of sails and other items to the subsistence fishermen of Haiti. We continue to send entire shipping containers full of sails to subsistence fishermen in the Haitian villages of Ile-a-Vache, Abricots, Jeremie, and Port-au-Prince.
The first donors to Sails for Sustenance were the University of Miami and members of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Since then hundreds of individual donors have given sails. Volunteer "Ambassadors for Sustenance" collect sails on behalf of S4S by reaching out to their network of fellow sailors through local yacht clubs and racing fleets. Some volunteer collectors set up a table at a regatta while others maintain a “drop box” at a yacht club or sail loft. All donated sails are processed at S4S offices in Miami or New Orleans prior to being shipped to Haiti. Sails are primarily shipped to Port-au-Prince or to secondary ports such as Miragoane. Sails are retrieved in the port city by partner organizations, taken back to remote villages, and distributed to fishermen.
