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Manhattan Restaurants Chip in to Help Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts

By DNAinfo Staff on January 18, 2010 6:03pm  | Updated on January 18, 2010 3:11pm

Patrons at Nikki Beach Midtown will raise money for Haiti earthquake relief Thursday at a fundraiser for UNICEF.
Patrons at Nikki Beach Midtown will raise money for Haiti earthquake relief Thursday at a fundraiser for UNICEF.
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Courtesy Nikki Beach Midtown

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Some of Manhattan's hottest restaurants and cultural centers are pitching in to help raise money for Haiti earthquake relief.

Eateries including Nikki Beach Midtown and Knife + Fork will hold fundraising events with proceeds benefitting relief agencies.

Nikki Beach Midtown will solicit donations of $20 to $30 going to UNICEF at an open bar on Jan. 21. Knife + Fork in the East Village also plans to donate 20 percent of their sales and tips on Jan. 20 to Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

Raina Chemaly, the assistant manager at Nikki Beach Midtown, moved to the United States from Haiti five years ago.

"My brother and my cousin are out there putting casts on people's legs, of course he's never done this," said Chemaly, whose family survived the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince. "We need people who are medically trained."

Donations at Nikki Beach Midtown made to UNICEF will go toward purchasing water and medical supplies to Haiti, said Rosemary Martin of the US Fund for UNICEF.

"People are being super generous," Martin said. "But this is something that's going to go on for a long time."

Restaurants aren't the only local businesses helping raise money for the earthquake torn country.

The Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute will hold an evening of music "I Am Hayiti (Haiti)" on Jan. 22 featuring artists Kalunga Neg Mawon, Tiga Jean Baptiste, T'Chaka and DJ Laylo at 408 West 58th Street. Doors for the show open at 6:30 p.m.