At first glance, 77-year-old Claude Gagnon looks like a cross between a pirate and a spy. He has no place he calls home, few possessions, is out of touch with family and friends in Bothell for weeks at a time — and he is hooked.

He is hooked on Hearts with Haiti, a nonprofit organization supporting various projects through nurture, advocacy, fund-raising, administration and leadership development.

Hearts with Haiti provides financial assistance to the children and young adults of St. Joseph’s in Port-au-Prince, Wings of Hope in Fermathe and Trinity House in Jacmel through donations and fund-raising activities. Hearts with Haiti uses volunteers to provide opportunities for children and open doors in the areas of arts and academics. The organization also provides medical and therapeutic needs.

On a recent visit up to the Northwest, Gagnon shared his story of despair, adventure and hope with friends at Sparta’s, a local pizza and spaghetti house near downtown Bothell. This prompted the restaurant employees to step up and take action.

Beginning at 4 p.m. Dec. 13, half of all tips given to the wait staff will be donated to Hearts with Haiti. Additionally, every Tuesday night during the month of December, Sparta’s server Mike Gagnon, Claude’s grandson, will donate 100 percent of his tips to his grandfather’s cause. Guests are encouraged to join Sparta’s for a night of good food, good wine and good friends — all while giving back.

Gagnon’s love for the people of Haiti flourished roughly 20 years ago. As part of Rotary International, he made his first trip to the central plateau of Haiti to check on the progress of fresh water wells being drilled. He flew to Haiti with the idea that he would only spend a few days checking the progress of the wells and return home; a nice and fairly comfortable humanitarian effort for a retired construction-materials salesman. He planned to do his part, and then make an exit from the tremendous filth and poverty. On the second day of his trip to Port au Prince, he sat outside listening to the rumbling and roar of the incessantly noise-filled city, and then he noticed a woman buying broken pieces of clay from a poor vendor.

He quickly learned that the pieces of clay were used as food for the children in Haiti. According to his guide on the trip, the women grind up the pieces of clay into a powder and have their children eat the powder then drink a glass of water. The clay swells in their bellies to take away their hunger.

When the cold reality sunk in, it stuck, stung and changed him.

With the well digging complete, Gagnon returned to Florida. Arriving home had always been a welcoming sight, but he could no longer see the clean towering structures below as beautiful and welcoming. His vision was veiled. He couldn’t erase the memory of the people and the devastating need on the Haitian Central Plateau.

“I could do nothing else but go back,” Gagnon said. “I had to help. I had to do what I could. My heart burned.”

He returned to work in Haiti’s central plateau for 10 years. Over the following decade, he went on to volunteer at various orphanages throughout Haiti, including the St. Joseph Home for Boys in Pentionville, the Wings of Hope Home for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Fermathe and Trinity House for Boys in Jacmel.

“Haitians have to break this crazy, hopeless cycle of poverty. The kids in these orphanages need a future. These kids need to have a purpose. They can rise up out of this mess,” he said.

The tremendous need of the Haitian people has prompted him to return time and time again.

“I leave Haiti for a few weeks at a time to come back to see my family in Bothell, but my home is in Haiti. My heart is there. As soon as my plane touches down at SeaTac, I count the days until I can return,” he explained.