Boca Grande in Haiti

	In November 2013, Yvette Mede and her three children in Manneville, Haiti received a new two-room house with sanitation and a cistern.
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 6, 2014) – A joyful noise is slowly drowning out the sounds of despair that once hovered over the small town of Manneville, Haiti. Located near Thomazeau, in the community of Croix-des-Bouquets, some of its residents who were in desperate need of housing and access to clean drinking water now have secure homes, with a cistern and sanitation. All this is thanks to the commitment of the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee and Food For The Poor.

“Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake in 2010 that killed hundreds of thousands of people and left more than a million homeless. During the last four years, the Hope for Haitians Committee has asked the people of Boca Grande to build homes and schools for the Haitian people to help get them back on their feet. In each of those four years, the people of Boca Grande reached the charitable goals set, with tremendous generosity,” said Ben Scott, Chairman of the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee.  

Some of those goals include the following:

• 135 Houses with Sanitation and Water Cisterns
• 2,850 Fruit Trees
• 2 Water Treatment Units
• 1 Vocational Training Center with Sanitation
• 2 Community Centers
• 1 Basic School with Sanitation
• 6 Solar Powered Street Lamps
• 1 Self-Starting Project for Women

The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee began working through the international relief and development organization in 2009, shortly before the Caribbean nation was rattled by one of the worst national disasters in its history. The committee wants to continue to help relocate families from tents to permanent housing.

“According to the latest published reports, there are approximately 200,000 people currently living in Haiti’s tent cities. This is a considerable reduction from the initial 1.3 million. But, one family living in a tent is one family too many,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Words cannot capture the gratitude this organization has for the Boca Grande committee, and community, that’s helping us to transform lives in Haiti, one family at a time.”

One such transformation took place nearly a year ago, during the second week of January, when Hope For Haitians Chairmen Ben and Louise Scott and eight Boca Grande Committee members traveled with Food For The Poor to Haiti. During the three-day trip, they got to meet some of the families and to see the dire need in a section of Manneville. Today, that section of town has been transformed into a thriving community of 33 colorful two-room homes that have brought tremendous joy to the recipients.
The residents want to thank their benefactors for providing them with the priceless gift of self-sufficiency. Click here to read some of the stories shared by these grateful individuals.

“The Boca Grande community has made a huge difference in the lives of so many people in desperate need. But there are still so many who need the basics of life,” said Scott.

Scott will be traveling to Haiti the week of Jan. 13, 2014, with Food For The Poor.

Committee members include: Chairmen Ben and Louise Scott, the Rev. Gary Beatty, the Rev. Brian Brightly, the Rev. Jerome Carosella, the Rev. Michelle Robertshaw, George and Lois Castrucci, Patricia Chapman, Ray and Iliene Corcoran, Randy and Sue Eddy, Charlie and Florita Field, Evelyn Finnegan, Lou and Corie Fusz, Stephen and Susan Jansen, Mick and Susan Johnson, Tom and Nancy Lorden, Colvin and Madelaine McCrady, Peter and Elsa Soderberg.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.