Hope for Haiti - Numbers continue to rise

Thanks to Boca Grande’s Hope for Haitians Committee, dozens of Haitian families left homeless by the 2010 earthquake are one step closer to leaving the tent cities of Port-au-Prince and moving into their own sturdy homes.

More than $300,000 has been raised by the group, which leaves just $56,000 to go.

“We cannot fathom what life is like for families living under such dire conditions, not for one year, but for nearly two and a half years,” said Angel Aloma, executive director of Food For The Poor. “Words cannot express the gratitude we have for the Boca Grande Committee and for their continued support. On behalf of the Haitian families who’ll soon be moving into the village – thank you.”

Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II, which is located in the small farming community of Michaud near Croix-des-Bouquets just northwest of Port-au-Prince, is more than 85 percent complete and some families have started to move in. The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee is still raising money for the project through Food For The Poor.  The new village will have:

• 40 earthquake-resistant two-room homes with personal sanitation units and kitchenettes
• Solar-powered lanterns for each family
• Four solar-powered street lamps
• A community center
• 80 goats
• 200 fruit-bearing trees
• A water filtration unit

“The people of Boca Grande have been so very generous to our Haiti project, and we’re very thankful for their support,” said Ben Scott, chair of the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee. “However, we still have a little ways to go, but I am confident we will receive the necessary donations to complete this village.”

Food For The Poor’s goal is to build 12,000 homes in 2012 for the people in the countries it serves.  The organization has asked individuals and businesses to participate in a matching-fund program to encourage donations toward that goal.  As a result of this program, funds have been allocated for the construction of 10 two-room homes for Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II in Michaud, Haiti.

The first Friendship Village built by the committee through Food For The Poor is located in the northwest part of the country in Pierre Payen.  Scott and his wife, Louise, traveled to Haiti for the dedication of a school and the second phase of that village last November. While in Haiti, they took a tour of one of the makeshift tent cities and met some of the future recipients of the homes in Michaud. 

A video of what Scott saw while touring the tent cities is available at youtube.com/watch?v=Pcqgz800z2c.

Committee members include Ben and Louise Scott, the Rev. Gary Beatty, the Rev. Brian Brightly, the Rev. Jerome Carosella, the Rev. Read Heydt, George and Lois Castrucci, Patricia Chapman, Ray and Iliene Corcoran, Charlie and Florita Field, Evelyn Finnegan, Lou and Corie Fusz, Stephen and Susan Jansen, Tom and Nancy Lorden, Colvin and Madelaine McCrady, John and Pauline Mendez, and Peter and Elsa Soderberg.