Last Friday, Kris Allen went to Port-au-Prince, Haiti with the CEO of the United Nations Foundation, Kathy Calvin, to witness the impact of the work being done by the UN to help Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake that hit in January. The American Idol winner will show footage from his trip and perform “Let It Be” on tonight’s live results show. At this time, Kris will help kick off Idol Gives Back with the UN Foundation, one of the show’s charities, and encourage people to donate to help Haiti.

In the past, Kris has taken part in mission trips, and he said that he’s noticed in times of devastation, people pull together. “I think people were hurt by [the earthquake] and everyone was affected by that, but I think you could see, especially the way the UN was helping, the smiles on the kids’ faces they know that everything is going to be okay. It is going to take a long time, but everything is going to be hopefully better than it was.”

A lasting memory Kris took with him was when he went into the women’s tent and visited with the mothers and their babies. “I got to sing a song for them and hold a couple of babies…It was a really cool experience.” The Idol winner saw some shocking things. “There were buildings down all over the place, people living in tiny little tents that are blazing hot – six or seven to a family. It was a pretty rough experience for them.”

During his short trip to Haiti, Kris helped out in different ways. “I got to hand out the different kinds of food that they were giving out to the people. I got to be a part of a registration thing where people were getting cards where they could get food and there was a cash for work program also. There were a lot of jobs that were just destroyed and so people are able to clear the rubble out for money during the day, and I got to help out with that.” Kris hopes to have the opportunity to go back to Haiti for a longer period of time so he can get his hands even dirtier.

The children of Haiti have impacted and inspired the reigning American Idol. “You can always see the hope in the kids’ eyes because they don’t exactly know what’s going on,” Kris shared. “They’re smiling and they’re having a good time, and I think that’s the moments that I like to grab on to. They’re making the most out of everything and I think that we can take a lot out from how kids react when stuff like this happens.”

To learn more about Kris’ trip to Haiti and how you can give back, tune into American Idol at 8/7c tonight on FOX and visit the official Idol Gives Back website.