CROWN POINT | Back home in Hammond after his Haitian relief mission, Michael Fedele is counting the blessings so generously given by the Northwest Indiana community and the longtime supporters of the orphanage he founded eight years ago near Port-au-Prince.

Though the rescue mission initially focused on the needs of the 150 children and 20 adult caretakers at his Maranatha Orphanage and School, about 20 miles from the epicenter of January's devastating earthquake, relief efforts organized by Fedele and his supporters grew to where the airdrops of food, water and other supplies aided about 5,000 people in need.

In addition to area benefits staged by local schools and organizations, Fedele was aided by supporters from Illinois and New York and the nonmilitary charitable organizations to whom he reached out.

"Watching everything as it took place brought tears to my eyes," Fedele said of the 13 food drops conducted by two helicopters. The entire operation took about six hours, he said.

"The drop began with only two helicopters and a crowd of 1,000 people," said Fedele, whose fluency in Creole helped to organize the crowd.

With the donations at hand, Fedele, who had to enter Haiti through the Dominican Republic, bought $10,000 worth of rice, beans and cooking oil.

His nonprofit organization, Life For The World, coordinated food efforts with such agencies as the United Nations, UNICEF, the Red Cross and Feed the Children.

Faced with the danger of collapsed and damaged buildings, the other immediate need was to find shelter for the children.

Don Curtis, head of Children's International Lifeline, agreed to house Maranatha's children and caretakers for at least three months. Fedele has launched efforts to rebuild the orphanage.

"The Haitian government is currently asking that the steps of the rebuilding process begin for all orphanages within three months," Fedele said. "Any orphanage that can't comply with these stipulations may have their license taken away."

Fedele's first visit to Haiti came eight years ago at a time when he was in the midst of his own personal odyssey.

Fedele said he had arrived at a stage in life when he questioned the worth of how he was spending his time.

"I got on a plane in September of 2002 and ended up staying 40 days, and that completely changed my life ... forever," Fedele said in a 2008 interview. "I saw with my own eyes this unimaginable situation. Words can't describe the hunger, the disease, tuberculosis and AIDS. There's no food. Half the country is in abject starvation."

Fedele said he found children wandering the streets like animals, naked, selling sticks to earn a bite to eat.

By the time he left Haiti in the fall of 2002, Fedele, with the help of impoverished but eager Haitians, had the start of an orphanage in place to care for more than a dozen abandoned children who had attached themselves to him, pleading with him to be their "papa."

TO HELP: Direct donations to Fedele's continuing efforts can be made by clicking Give at lifefortheworld.com, where payments are accepted through PayPal or by credit card. Checks and money orders may be made out to Life For The World Inc. and mailed to P.O.Box 4025, Hammond, IN 46324.

Donations can also be made by texting 20222 with the message: Support LFTW. Click yes on the return message for confirmation of your $5 donation.