Haitian Outreach – February Update
February is Haitian Outreach Month at St. Bernard Parish at St. Camillus church!
In the past we have had a display and an update given. Due to my recovering from a broken ankle, I am unable to speak at masses this year. My recovery is going well, slowly and steadily. Thank you to everyone who has supported Deacon John and myself during this time.
Things in Haiti remain the same and schools run when it is safe for the students. Gangs continue to terrorize people, and food and supplies, i.e., gas, continue to be scarce.
The children of Damassin holding their snack. They are grateful to have anything to eat. A goal for 2025 is to help them eat more than 1x/month!
In November 2024, our shipper (Eagle Shipping) called to inform us that he did not know when he would deliver the bins with backpacks and supplies to St. Mary Convent. He also informed us that he may not be shipping in 2025 to Haiti. Time for some brainstorming! As a result of this our Leadership team met and decided to make a change.
We will continue to seek out sponsors for children in our schools and send money to assist them in getting an education. We always need new sponsors!
Haitian Outreach will not in 2025 be collecting backpacks, school supplies, clothing or food to ship in 2025. Instead, sponsor monetary donations for backpacks will be rolled into tuition students receive so they will now receive $160.00 towards tuition, uniform or immunizations. Just a reminder that sponsors pay a portion of the cost for school, parents are asked to pay the rest. If you have any questions about this change, please call Pauline at 978- 807-4397. More information will be going out with annual tuition paperwork.
We will work to increase monetary donations so that we can add to our “Larry’s Food Fund”. Presently we send $400.00 a month to Sr. Marianne Duvil at Damassin school. She can only feed 400 children once a month a snack. We are looking to get funds to be able to help her feed the children more often in a month.
Attached you will find pictures of her and the children. When there is no food, she makes popcorn and gives them this tasty snack!
Help us Help her feed these poor children more frequently.
Make a donation to Haitian Outreach via check, or cash and drop it in the Sunday basket marked the outside “Haitian Outreach”. Donate now with Paypal or credit card to support a child in Haiti.
Larry’s food fund has helped sustain students with food and medicine in the last year. Help us to continue this effort!
Thanks to donations, we also send $5,000.00 to Sr. Verlaine Cadet to help her with the “Breakfast” program at Lilavois school. She feeds the little ones each day.
During our 10 years working with the schools we realize the severity of food insecurity in Haiti. Children cannot learn if they are hungry! We are making a difference in the lives of these children and the sisters. Thanks to a special donor we were able to send $300.00 to the sisters for a lovely Christmas dinner.
“When a hungry person has bad feelings, he can turn to a gang. That’s what I don’t want for the children of Damassin School. I’m happy with the Food program (Larry’s Food Fund) that gives them a snack”
- Sister Marianne
Here are some videos sent to us of the children in Haiti:
J. Samuel Louis: Seminary Student Update
Samuel and I have been working with a seminary in Canada to enroll him in their program to become a Catholic priest. Samuel and I have been working hard to get his visa, passport and the details of his trip in place. I wrote to a seminary in Ottawa, Canada and also the office of Bishops in Washington, DC. Canada responded and would love to have him travel to the seminary.
This has become a very expensive endeavor for Haitian Outreach. We thank those who are helping him to go to Canada February 15th and pray he will be successful in fulfilling his dream to become a priest. If you would like to help Samuel, through Haitian Outreach please see above on ways to donate to his cause.
Left to right Christina, Sr. Marianne, Paula, back row: Betsy, Rosemary and Pauline (not present Judy Hebert)
God bless and pray for him.
Gratefully, the Haitian Outreach Team