How It Works Header

How It Works

Help subsistence fishermen feed their families

Your Old Sails

Your Old Sails

1No matter how worn out, your old sails are a vast improvement over the makeshift sails currently being used by many fishermen in Haiti.

Donate Them

Donate Them

2Sails are collected by volunteers at yacht clubs, sail lofts, and regattas, or sent directly to SFS. Sometimes sails are carried by sailors travelling to regattas in Miami.

Packed and Shipped

Packed & Shipped

3Sails are processed at SFS headquarters in Miami and prepared for shipment to Haiti.

For Villages in Need

For Villages in Need

4Sails are shipped to Haiti via sea freight by international relief agencies or commercial shipping companies.

To Make New Sails

To Make New Sails

5The materials and manufacturing of modern sails allow for faster sailing and less maintenance than the makeshift sails made of discarded flour sacks and plastic sheeting.


Donate Used Sails

Donors

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, many anonymously, have given sails.

Our Supporters

Sails for Sustenance Collectors

Collectors

Volunteers of all ages have collected sails on behalf of SFS by reaching out to sailors through their 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.

Find out who makes this possible

Donors

Delivery to Miami

All donated sails are processed at SFS headquarters in Miami, FL prior to being shipped to Haiti. Many sails have been shipped to HQ in Miami individually through UPS and the USPS. Large loads consisting of many sails have been carried by sailors trailering boats to regattas in Florida.


Collectors

Sails are Processed in Miami

SFS inspects and catalogs donated sails according to condition, material, size, type, etc. Sails are then stripped of battens and tackle, flaked and rolled to specific dimensions, and packed into canvas bags. The database allows SFS to link sails from a donor to recipient community.

Become a Volunteer

Delivery to Haiti

Delivery to Haiti

Sails are primarily shipped to Port-au-Prince, Haiti via sea freight through a partnership with Food for the Poor (www.foodforthepoor.org). SFS has also utilized independent freight companies that ship to secondary ports such as Miragoane, Haiti. Once in Haiti, sails are retrieved in the port city by partner organizations, taken back to remote villages, and distributed to fishermen.

See the Impact