Maple Grove To Honor Victims Of Haiti Quake

The board of directors of Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens has unanimously approved the creation of a permanent memorial for the relatives of Queens residents who perished in the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti and did not receive a proper burial.

The memorial will include a list the names of relatives lost and will provide a local location for families to visit for celebration, remembrance and reflection. According to cemetery officials, this initiative will encour age other communities to provide memorialization opportunities for their local Haitian families.

Working with Rep. Gregory Meeks’ office and influential Haitian community leaders, Maple Grove Cemetery is beginning the process of making the Haitian community aware of the memorial and collecting names of victims from the residents of Queens.

In the past Maple Grove Ceme tery has created memorials for groups of people who did not receive proper recognition at the time of their death. At the annual Day Of Remembrance & Lantern Festival, the community is invited to pay tribute and remember those they personally have lost and celebrate some of those groups of people buried in common graves due to disease of epidemic proportion, in cluding children of the 19th and 20th centuries from NYC hospitals, 1918 1919 victims of Spanish influenza and in the late 19th century, African Americans taken by disease.

At the 9/11 Memorial, there are perpetual starlights honoring the memory of some Queens residents who perished on Sept. 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center disaster.

Recognition on the Haitian Me morial will be created at no cost to the individuals submitting victims’ names and information, as it is Maple Grove Cemetery’s tribute to its Hait ian neighbors at a time of great loss.

Any Queens resident who would like to share the name and a brief bi ography or tribute to the uniqueness of a lost relative who has not been memorialized elsewhere may fill out the information form available on Maple Grove Cemetery’s website, www.maplegrovecenter.org, under “Haitian Memorial.”

To receive a form by mail, for more information on the program or how to assist the memorial commit tee, call the cemetery at 1 718 709 0390.