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SMALL MIRACLES AT MADELAINE CHOCOLATES
Written and photographed by Jesse Hirsch
FAR ROCKAWAY — Few would describe the recent earthquake in Haiti as miraculous, but some Hatian-American chocolate workers in Far Rockaway can see the silver lining behind the clouds. “Imagine this happened in the middle of the night, when everyone was in their homes sleeping. We wouldn’t have any family left,” said shop steward Jackson Pierre, referencing the fact that 90 percent of the buildings in his home region were destroyed. “I believe in miracles. These exist.”
Pierre works at Madelaine Chocolate Company, a small factory in outer Queens that makes dozens of products, from Hanukkah gelt (chocolate coins) to malt balls to chocolate-covered cranberries. As the borough’s largest employer of Haitian workers, the low-profile company recently found itself the focus of local and national attention, including phone calls with Larry King and a visit from Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). The company employs 450 workers, with roughly one-third of Haitian descent. Most live just over the borough border in Flatbush, Brooklyn (also known as Little Haiti). After the earthquake hit on the afternoon of Jan. 12, many days passed without phone service in Haiti, leaving Pierre and others desperate for word from loved ones. A mood of uncertainty and anxiety darkened the factory floor, according to owner and CEO Jorge Farber. “There was so much helplessness,” he said.
Phone service returned almost a week later, allowing news to trickle back. For many, the crushing anxiety of not knowing was soon replaced with the grim certainty of loss. Nonetheless, Madelaine’s workers kept their heads up the best they could, according to head of Human Resources Esther Joseph. “Haitian people are strong. They are very, very strong.”
Joseph said Madelaine functions like a family, with Haitian and non-Haitian workers alike lending helping hands and shoulders to cry on. Among these is the company’s owner. The week of the earthquake, Farber was recovering from the recent loss of his mother. Nonetheless, he could often be found roaming the factory floor, checking in with Haitian workers in their native tongue (he speaks five languages). He pledged $10,000 to help relocate the families of his Haitian workers, as well as to support relief and rebuilding initiatives. Farber also matched an additional $1,400 towards what Madelaine’s workers raised. “You find out who your friends are in bad times,” said Pierre. “[Farber] gave us 110 percent and then some.”
Some of Madelaine’s Haitian workers are now in the process of relocating uprooted family members to the States. Pierre is working on cutting through red tape to get five family members flown to the U.S. Another Madelaine employee just traveled to Haiti (by way of the Dominican Republic) to retrieve her six-month-old grandchild who was left motherless by the quake. And Joseph may be increasing the size of her own family- she is looking into adopting newly orphaned Haitian children. “These children have nowhere to go,” she said.
Madelaine’s workers, on the other hand, always have a place to go. Since the earthquake hit, through the uncertainty, the bad news and the recovery, most continued making chocolate every day, finding familiarity and comfort in their workplace. “It’s good to be distracted but I think our workers come in for a different reason- we are like family here" says Joseph. “People need that sense of community.”
The Madelaine Chocolate Company, 96-03 Beach Channel Dr., Rockaway Beach
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