Our partners in health: Arcade Fire, rock stars

 
Arcade Fire, a Canadian rock band with Haitian roots, has taken their support of PIH to a whole new level. 

In partnership with the National Football League (which has also made a donation to PIH’s Haiti relief efforts), the band agreed to license their hit song “Wake Up” to the NFL for a series of commercials, which were first aired at the Super Bowl last weekend.  All proceeds from this licensing will benefit PIH.

Watch one of the commercials below.

Regine and Win visiting PIH's projects in Haiti in 2008. Read about their visit.

The band has supported PIH's work in Haiti for years. After reading Tracy Kidder’s book Mountains Beyond Mountains, the group contacted PIH to ask how they could help. Since then, their support has included organizing special fundraising events, giving a portion of ticket sales from recent concert tours to support PIH’s work, and donating proceeds from special merchandise sold at their shows and on their website.

In addition, the band’s relationship with Haiti runs deep. Founded by Win Butler and his wife Régine Chassagne in Montreal in 2003, the pair has always remembered Régine’s Haitian roots—her family emigrated from Haiti to Canada before she was born. Fans know that Win sometimes decorates his guitar with the Haitian proverb “sak vide pa kanpe”—”an empty sack cannot stand up”—as a reminder of the crushing poverty that afflicts Haiti.

In a recent interview, Régine discussed Haiti and her support for Partners In Health. Watch the interview below.

Visit Arcade Fire's website.