Seven villages built by one parish through Operation Starfish

In anticipation of the 40-day Lenten season, parishioners from
Church of the Nativity in Burke, Va., journeyed to Haiti Feb. 6-10 to witness how their generosity has transformed the lives of hundreds of families who once lived in deplorable conditions. Leading the mission group was Father Richard Martin, pastor of Nativity and the originator of Food For The Poor’s Operation Starfish® program.

For 14 years, Fr. Martin has attributed the growth and success of his parish to partnering with Food For The Poor through the Operation Starfish program. The program encourages families to engage fully in the sacrificial spirit of Lent by giving parishioners the opportunity for spiritual reflection and the ability to make daily sacrifices to benefit those who are suffering. The program encourages individuals to deposit 50 cents or more each day to help the poor. At the end of Lent, when all donations are collected, housing, education and medical programs for the destitute will be funded through Food For The Poor.

“There is no greater honor and privilege than to be able to bring the basic necessities of life to those who need them,” said Bonnie DelBalzo, a Winchester, Va. resident, who has participated in Operation Starfish since 2005. “Operation Starfish allows us the opportunity to help one person, one family at a time, and to be inspired to continue as we see the joy, hope and comfort these donations can bring. What a blessing to be part of Operation Starfish projects and to work with such an efficient model of relief services through Food For The Poor.”

Nativity’s annual trip offered parishioners the opportunity to walk through Shada, an appalling Cap-Haitien slum with no access to clean water, where the smell of garbage and burning trash fills the air. Afterwards, the group traveled to the parish’s sixth village, “Nativity Village at Chastenoye,” where 50 homes were built for 50 families who were relocated from Shada.

“Through Operation Starfish, we have been able to partner with others as disciples of Christ to bring hope and dignity to the poor,” said DelBalzo, when she returned from the trip. “It is through us that God shows His love, mercy and faithfulness to the suffering and needy - and in seeing where He is working and listening to what He asks us to do through the Holy Spirit, we can experience Him in a meaningful and fulfilling way as He works in us and through us to accomplish His purposes.”

Parishioners also had the opportunity to meet the families for whom they fulfilled the dream of homeownership in the parish’s seventh village, “Nativity Village in Mazere,” in Cap-Haitien. This village of 100 permanent homes was constructed with Nativity Parish’s 2011 Lenten collection.

“This village provides so much more than just 100 new sturdy homes with sanitation,” said Jim McDaniel, a Nativity parishioner and Food For The Poor staff member. “There is a water filtration system, a community center for vocational training, and agricultural projects – this way the people can grow their own crops and generate revenue to become self-sustaining.”

In addition to visiting several villages, the group saw and heard firsthand accounts about the harsh realities of life in developing countries. Fishermen at Nativity’s Tilapia Farm and Nursery in Petit Anse harvested three buckets of fish to show Food For The Poor donors their appreciation and how the fish are distributed in the community, as well as sold at market.

Group members also distributed meals to approximately 560 inmates in a Cap-Haitien prison; unloaded suitcases full of crayons, books, balls and barrettes to the children at St. Louis Girls Home; cheered on the seamstresses at Nativity Village II in Prolonge; visited Nativity Fishing Village in Petit Anse; dedicated the daCruz Library and community center in Madras; and played with children at Little Children of Jesus Home for the handicapped, a project of Food For The Poor.

Additional travelers included Theresa Danner (Burke, Va.), Hollis Hunter Jr. (Burke, Va.), Vincent Lam (South Riding, Va.), Tu Le (Springfield, Va.), James Lenertz (Springfield, Va.), Cynthia Mausolf (Springfield, Va.), Lesley Pardew (Castle Rock, Colo.), Carleen Payne (Sarasota, Fla.), Beverly Powell (Springfield, Va.), and Dennis Staszak (Fairfax, Va.).

Those interested in starting an Operation Starfish program at their parish, school, or organization can visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/operationstarfish or call 877-654-2960 ext. 6641.

Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Contact:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com

Six villages and counting, thanks to a dedicated parish

For 13 years, Father Richard Martin, pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Burke, Va., has worked side by side with Food For The Poor to help transform the lives of hundreds of families who once lived in deplorable conditions in Haiti.

On Friday, May 27, Fr. Martin presented Food For The Poor’s CEO/President Robin Mahfood with another generous check. Nativity Parish’s 2011 Lenten collection will be used to build 100 new homes in its seventh village. “Nativity Village in Mazere” will be located in Cap-Haitien.

“Food For The Poor has delivered aid and so much more to those who are desperate for help, and together we make a difference,” said Fr. Martin, Church of the Nativity. “I want to thank all of you for being shepherds. All of you are caretakers and shepherds. What would Food For The Poor be without its shepherds?”

In 1998, Fr. Martin’s church built its first “Nativity Village” consisting of 27 homes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with help from Food For The Poor. Since making that commitment, every year for more than a decade, Nativity has taken on additional projects to ease the suffering in the Caribbean nation. By the end of 2010, that first project at Canapé-Vert grew to six complete “Nativity Village” developments. Now, there are more than 800 houses in various parts of the country.

“Here at Food For The Poor, we are very thankful for Fr. Martin and his compassionate parishioners. Because of their loving kindness, many lives in Haiti have been changed and will continue to be changed for the better,” said Mahfood. “What a tremendous blessing Nativity has been to us.”

Since February 1999, Nativity parishioners have accompanied Fr. Martin on mission trips to Haiti, to see for themselves the fruits of their generosity. As he celebrates his 45th anniversary as a priest, he will continue the tradition, and will head back to Haiti with volunteers from his parish this summer for the ground breaking of “Nativity Village in Mazere.”

“This village will provide so much more than just 100 new sturdy homes with sanitation,” said Jim McDaniel, a Nativity parishioner and Food For The Poor staff member. “There will be a water filtration system, a community center for vocational training, and agricultural projects – this way the people can grow their own crops and generate revenue to become self-sustaining.”

Last June, 13 parishioners from Nativity Parish traveled to Cap-Haitien with Food For The Poor to visit “Nativity Village at Chastenoye,” where 50 homes were built for 50 families who were relocated from Shada. This Cap-Haitien slum is an inhumane place with no clean water; a place where the smell of garbage, along with the smell of burning trash fills the air.

Click on links for a look back at Nativity’s 2010 mission trip to Cap-Haitien, Haiti:

Part I: Church of the Nativity mission trip

Part V: Church of the Nativity mission trip

Part VII: Church of the Nativity mission trip

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.

Contact:
Wanda Wright
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com

Class inspires students to take action and save lives

Civics teachers at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Va., challenged eighth graders to research how they could "Take Action to Change Our World." The program not only satisfied the curriculum, it also motivated students to take action to save lives, one child at a time.

"The thing that I found during my research that inspired me the most is that 75 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day," said Christine McGrath, 13, Church of the Nativity parishioner in Burke, Va. "That is less than the cost of the two yogurts I eat every day."

Christine’s school project raised more than $5,600 toward Church of the Nativity’s Operation Starfish gift for the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor. The donation will provide children the opportunity to attend school, and construct critically needed shelter to relocate a family from either a tent city or a dilapidated shack in a garbage-filled swamp.

“It makes me feel like I accomplished something, because my goal for the project was to raise enough money to build a house for $3,200, and I exceeded my goal,” said Christine. “It just goes to show you that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.”

Food For The Poor will build the housing unit with a latrine for $3,200 in the next phase of Church of the Nativity’s seventh village, in Chastenoye, Haiti. Food For The Poor homes are built with a strong, corrugated zinc roof, a solid poured-cement foundation, concrete-block walls, windows for ventilation, and a front door that can be locked. The remainder will award children scholarships to attend the Food For The Poor and Church of the Nativity sponsored schools in Merger and Prolonge, Haiti. In developing countries, the gift of schooling and the opportunity to learn how to read changes lives.

“After Christine surpassed her goal, it was one of the proudest moments of my life,” said Tim McGrath, her father.

Christine’s parents said she was introduced to the desperate needs in Haiti through Operation Starfish at Church of the Nativity.

“We can learn from these young ones – they teach us how to become aware of the needs of others, how to develop compassion for the needy, and how to act on behalf of the poor,” said the Rev. Richard Martin, Pastor at Church of the Nativity. “Awareness, compassion and action will truly make a difference in the lives of our Haitian sisters and brothers.”

Morgan Cobban, 14, and Samantha Lek, 14, also were shaped by their involvement at Church of the Nativity. Their project raised money to help construct a home for a destitute family in Nativity Village in Chastenoye.

To fundraise, Morgan, Samantha and Christine spread awareness about their initiatives by walking door-to-door within their community, while spreading consciousness nationwide through social networking sites. Additionally they hosted bake sales, sold raffle tickets and Hope for Haiti wristbands. Morgan’s sisters in California supported the cause by hanging posters in their offices and selling wristbands to coworkers.

“What the girls accomplished is the reason I teach,” said Jane Gordon, the girls’ Civics teacher, who has taught for 10 years. “Their persistent positive belief that they can truly make a difference in the world made their results possible. Not only have they helped numerous families in Haiti, but they have also inspired their friends, families and fellow students that such change is actually possible. They give us great hope that the future will be bright.”

“I am learning through my work as a volunteer that giving back to the world is a rewarding and satisfying experience,” said Morgan. “Also, it is important to keep in mind that no matter how difficult something may seem, even when we encounter a road block, it is imperative to persevere because I know that somewhere, someone will benefit from my actions, no matter how small they may seem.”

“We are so proud of the work Morgan has done with this project,” said Rick Cobban, Morgan’s father. “The girls have been working tirelessly for weeks putting a great deal of time and effort into seeing this through. They completely understand that every little bit helps and they are motivated by knowing they can make a difference.”

For more than 20 years, Martin – the originator of Operation Starfish® – has encouraged families to engage fully in the sacrificial spirit of Lent by giving parishioners the opportunity for spiritual reflection and the ability to make daily sacrifices to benefit those who are suffering. The program encourages individuals to deposit 50 cents or more each day to help the poor. At the end of Lent, when all donations are collected, combined and counted – housing, education and medical programs for the destitute will be funded through Food For The Poor. Food For The Poor’s 25-year tenure in Haiti aided the nonprofit’s response to the devastating January 2010 earthquake and most recently the spread of cholera.

“I am so grateful that I had the pleasure of helping out Food For The Poor by volunteering to help the Haitian people,” said Samantha. “Volunteering made me feel accomplished, and it was a very rewarding experience to help others.”

The project exhibits will be on display April 14 at the school’s Fourth Annual Lake Braddock Take Action Festival from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Community members are welcome to attend. Martin will present the parish’s donation to Food For The Poor in May 2011.

“I wasn’t surprised that Christine wanted to help those with less; she often looks for ways to help others,” said Beth McGrath, her mother. “After Christine made her first few hundred dollars from the bake sale, she became even more determined.”

“It is important to take action because trying to help the less fortunate is the right thing to do,” said Christine.

To involve your church or school in Food For The Poor’s mission call 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6988 or e-mail churchschool@foodforthepoor.org.

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Contact:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com