A year ago, Jefferson Fraley was in an orphanage in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Now, he is adjusting nicely to his new life in Moore County.

His mother, Amie, said the 2-year-old Haitian adoptee is an outgoing member of the family who loves playing with trains, tractors, his siblings and friends.

“He is a real riot,” Fraley says. “He is fitting in well with the other kids. Whatever they are doing, he wants to do it too, only faster.” 

Jefferson’s adoption became official in late December, 10 months after he was brought to the United States to live with the Fraleys.

A year ago, when the 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, Amie and her husband, Chris, were in the process of adopting Jefferson from an orphanage in Tabarre, which is about 10 miles northwest of the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince — the epicenter of the quake.

Busy with four children all under the age of 10, Fraley says she doesn’t have much time to watch television these days, but she did make it a point to tune in to CNN last week on the anni-versary of the disaster. She was taken aback by what she saw — or didn’t see.

“I thought they would probably be doing a lot of stories, but I was surprised,” she says. “There wasn’t much coverage.”

With the coverage of snowstorms battering much of the Southeast and Eastern United States, and the shooting in Arizona, Fraley says she understands the lack of coverage but was worried that the disaster had become “old news.”

She says she is hopeful that people won’t forget Haiti and will continue to do what they can to help.

“There is still a dire need,” she said.

One resident with Moore County ties is still trying to do his part to meet the need.

Jordan Rickard, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and graduate of Pinecrest High School, is selling prints of photos he took during a cross-country bike trip called Pedals for Haiti with his friend Travis Brotherton.

The duo chronicled their trip online and collected donations, which were given to Doctors Without Borders, a nonprofit organization that provides relief in Haiti.

Rickard, a photography major, documented the trip on film for a senior project.

He is displaying his photos Jan. 18-28 at the Rowe Art building on the UNC Charlotte campus. The photos will be sold, with money being donated to Doctors Without Borders. There also will be a silent auction of a new Trek road bike.

“We are trying to raise a dollar per each mile we rode,” Rickard said.

To date, the duo has raised a little more than $2,000, leaving them about $1,000 short of the goal, Rickard said.

Despite the efforts of many across America and Moore County, like the Fraleys and Rickard, the need for money and other forms of aid are still greatly needed.

According to a report released this week by the American Red Cross, the organization has raised $479 million for Haitian relief and has spent or signed contracts to spend $245 million over the first year.

In that report, Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross, said there is still much work to be done.

“I want to assure you that we will not lose sight of our goal,” she says. “The American Red Cross is committed to spending your donations wisely to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people, and we will be there until the last dollar that was so generously donated for Haiti is spent.”

The Moore County Chapter of the American Red Cross accepted more than $40,400 of in-person donations to the relief effort.

“That is only cash and checks that crossed my desk,” Meg Finnin says. “That doesn’t include donations made directly through the website or by texting, so I am sure Moore County’s contribution is much greater.”

In fact, organizations such as local Lions Clubs and the Rotary Club of Southern Pines donated money or supplies.

Individuals also did their part. For example, Brenda Whitaker, of Southern Pines, and Patrick Moore, of Pinehurst, collected shoes for Soles4Souls, a national organization that provides shoes for those affected by the disaster in Haiti. Combined they collected and donated thousands of pairs of shoes.

National media outlets are reporting that many Haitian children are still awaiting adoption, despite the work that was done to save so many children.

Usually, children adopted abroad enter the United States holding U.S. passports as the children of U.S. citizens. The Haitian refugee children arrived as Haitian citizens, ineligible for U.S. citizenship until they lived with families in the United States for at least two years. If they turned 18 before that time was up, they would lose the opportunity to gain U.S. citizenship.

In December, President Obama signed the Help Haiti Act, which puts the Haitian children on equal footing with other children adopted abroad.

Haiti had an estimated 350,000 orphans before the earthquake and as many as 1 million afterward, according to Haitian government estimates.

In all, the United States granted 1,090 children what it calls “humanitarian parole,” effectively permission to enter and stay in the United States on special visas while their U.S. adoptive parents complete the paperwork here, rather than abroad, as is usually required.

Since Jefferson arrived in the United States, Fraley says, her family has remained in regular contact with the adoption agency, officials at the Tabarre orphanage and with parents who adopted other children from the orphanage.

And recently they received a surprising e-mail asking them if they wanted to adopt another child.

When the earthquake hit Haiti, the dossier with the Fraleys’ adoption paperwork was lost. In that paperwork, Fraley says, the family indicated that they would be willing to adopt two children if they were siblings. As it turned out, they adopted only Jefferson.

The paperwork turned up recently, prompting the e-mail.

When asked about their interest in adopting again, Fraley said, “We are done. There will be no more Fraleys. We will have to find another way to help.”

Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.