A West Virginia public relations firm owner has been named board president of a relief organization serving the Caribbean.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Charleston resident Mike Plante takes over for Steve Merritt at Bahamas Habitat. Merritt, of Cary, North Carolina, died in a plane crash on Dec. 17.

As part of Bahamas Habitat, volunteer pilots, aircraft owners and aviation professionals provide humanitarian aid to the Bahamas, Haiti and other Caribbean islands.

Plante says he has been a volunteer pilot with the organization since Merritt founded it a decade ago.

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Online:

http://bahamashabitat.org