Teen Preparing for Confirmation Helps to Feed Children in Haiti

Never underestimate the power of one; that is the lesson many in a New Jersey parish are learning from one of its young members.

Last fall, 13-year-old Samantha Tallard needed a community service project to complete a requirement for Confirmation. Like many around the world, the teen was moved by the devastation a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused in Haiti nearly nine months ago.

“I wanted to choose a project for community service that would make a difference for other people instead of putting in my hours for a lot of little projects,” said Tallard. “At the time when I needed to make my decision I heard about the earthquake in Haiti. I saw videos of what the children were going through and it made me feel really sad.”

So she decided to partner with Food For The Poor, which has been working in Haiti for more than 24 years.

Samantha organized a raffle to raise money for the children of Haiti. With her goal in mind, she went to retailers in her area – Target, Best Buy, Walmart, and even to the New Jersey Devils Hockey team – for donations.

Samantha received an iPod, 2 digital cameras, a number of gift cards, and even an autographed hockey stick for her raffle. Dr. Anthony Novembre, the Director of Religious Education, printed the raffle tickets which were sold for $1 each before the start of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine class.

The young girl quickly surpassed her original goal and set a new one. In the end, Samantha raised enough money to feed 300 children for a month in Haiti. She presented the check to Fr. Richard Nahman, who accepted the gift on behalf of Food For The Poor at St. Catherine of Siena in Farmingdale in September. The charity will use the money collected to fulfill Samantha’s desire to help Haiti.

“I had no idea when I raised this amount of money that I would be able to help so many people because that same amount wouldn’t buy nearly that much food in our country,” said Tallard.

Food For The Poor, the 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