Editorial:

We tip our hat to those Orange County residents, including many in Newport-Mesa, who have helped the people of Haiti in some way or another recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake. The massive temblor leveled the capital of Port-au-Prince, and the death toll could reach 200,000.

Folks from throughout the county and the Daily Pilot’s coverage area, who represented different backgrounds and generations, came together to throw a lifeline to Haiti. This week especially, they did not let a nasty turn in the weather dampen their spirit of compassion.

Examples of such selflessness included a slew of churches raising money for Haiti, among them St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach and Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa. On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, some employees of Newport Beach-based Pacific Management Investment Co. went to Buena Park for a service day event honoring the memory of the slain civil rights leader. There they helped sort out medical supplies destined for Haiti.

Perhaps most heart-warming of all was that even local children chipped in. One group of kids — Samantha Leonard, 12, Savannah Lehner, 11, and Ainslee Lehner, 9 — set up a lemonade and hot chocolate stand with Haiti in mind. Another group of their peers, Delaney DeCinces, 9, and her sisters Paige and Riley — who are the granddaughters of former Angel and ex-big leaguer Doug DeCinces — and their friends, Taylor and Jordan Craig, baked batches of brownies, cookies and cupcakes (with help from mom Kendra Craig) to raise funds for the Haitian relief effort. Their bake sale inspired dad Tim DeCinces of Newport Beach, to donate all the proceeds from Thursday sales at his three Beach Pit BBQ restaurants to Haiti.

None of these locals had to help. Given that a lot of families continue to struggle in a down economy, and that the nation is fighting in two foreign wars with no end in sight, people in Newport-Mesa didn’t have to reach out like this to aiding the long-suffering people of a Caribbean nation that has little strategic value for U.S. global interests, and whose governments have been notoriously corrupt. But we praise such kindness because it’s the human thing to do.