Skydivers all over the country have started lending their resources to help Haiti recover, and Start Skydiving in Middletown is no exception.

John Hart, owner of Start Skydiving, said seeing and hearing about the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti “was so depressing” he wanted to do something about it.

With skydiving planes at his disposal, he was well prepared to help.

David Strobel, Start Skydiving representative, said skydiving planes are perfect for delivering supplies to Haiti because of their versatility. They are equipped not only to land on short, rough runways, but also to land in places where there may be no runway at all, Strobel said.

“They also have big doors and can carry a lot of weight,” Nancy Koreen, United States Parachute Association (USPA) representative, said.

Hart didn’t want to deliver just anything, though. He called Doctors Without Borders to see what they needed most. They told him what they really needed was a digital X-ray machine.

“It’s an amazing piece of technology,” Hart said.

That “amazing technology” had already made it to Knoxville, but it stalled there. Hart and a few others from Start Skydiving picked it up and finished its delivery to Haiti. They were thrilled to do it.

“It’s awesome to be able to do something useful,” Hart said.

Although Start Skydiving thought this up on its own, at the same time, USPA was sending out messages to its affiliates all over the country encouraging just this type of action.

Koreen said it started with Haiti asking a Jamaican skydiving company to use its planes to deliver supplies.

“After getting involved, (the Jamaican center) notified USPA, and USPA notified some of its affiliated centers saying there were these opportunities,” Koreen said.

According to Koreen, the funding for these trips to Haiti is coming completely from donations.

“Some (skydiving centers) are using funds from different aid and charity organizations that already have systems in place for these sorts of things,” Koreen said. “Some have collected donations from skydivers for fuel, and some are donating their own money to cover the costs themselves.”

Koreen said the exact length of this project is unknown and more deliveries are being made right now.

“It’s ongoing,” Koreen said. “A couple of jump planes are overseas at the moment and will continue making trips in the future.”

Senior Adam Schmucker, president of Miami University’s skydiving club, MU Dropouts, said this is a great way to aid Haiti’s recovery.

“Skydiving planes can land on grass fields and stuff and be fine,” Schmucker said. “So yeah, I think it is an effective way to help.”