With less than 10 minutes to go in Super Bowl XLIV, NFL employees entered the "secret room," a storage area in the bowels of Sun Life Stadium, to pull out eight black Reebok athletic bags filled with championship T- shirts, caps and towels.

Four said New Orleans Saints; the other four Indianapolis Colts.

As the clocked ticked down to five minutes, the bags were on the field. But when it was clear the Saints were going to be NFL champions, the Colts' gear went back to the secret room.

By then, a half dozen NFL employees were on the Saints' sideline so they could easily distribute the shirts and hats to players for the on-field awarding of the Lombardi trophy.

The Colts' gear will be boxed up and sent to a distribution center near Pittsburgh for its eventual journey to Haiti to aid earthquake survivors.

"We'll ship it out tomorrow," NFL senior director of on-field product Dennis Kayser said as he waited on the field with the Saints' gear.

For years, the league would destroy the losers' items after the game.

"We would literally incinerate it or shred it," said David Krichavsky, NFL director of community affairs.

"Then it dawned us, it probably wasn't the best use, because others around the world could use it."

The NFL now designates the losers' product for a new assignment. International relief organization World Vision has been sending the gear to needy populations in developing countries since 1994. Product is also collected from the retailers, such as Sports Authority, which order it to have on hand once the game is won.

World Vision typically receives about $2 million in donated NFL apparel from the Super Bowl and conference championship games, organization spokeswoman Karen Kartes said.

This year, the league and World Vision had chosen Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, before the Jan. 12 earthquake rocked the country. In the next few months, as the post-earthquake needs in Haiti grow less critical, palettes of shirts and caps will make their way to the country.

Last year, Arizona Cardinals product went to El Salvador. Those New England Patriots 19-0 shirts and caps? To Nicaragua. In 2007, Chicago Bears' merchandise went to Zambia.

The NFL gets a tax deduction and avoids putting the product into landfills.

"It helps us meet really critical needs," Kartes said. "A lot of these children and families, literally haven't had a new item of clothing in their lives. It's really touching. They don't care what's written on it."

Major League Baseball partnered with World Vision three years ago. "The Phillies merchandise started arriving in Indonesia in December," Kartes said.

In all, World Vision, which works with 100 countries, takes in $400 million in donated corporate product each year, including the sports gear and pharmaceutical and school supplies, Kartes said.

Kartes said while the inaccurate product could end up somewhere that someone notices it, "the benefits outweigh the risks."

Sarah Talalay can be reached at stalalay@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4173.