The Hope For Haitians Committee Provides Haitians with a Fresh Start-in-life
*NOTE TO REPORTERS: Tom Lorden, Pat Bachrodt, Peter Roche (Event Co-Chairmen) and Angel Aloma (Food For The Poor’s Executive Director) are available for interviews.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (June 11, 2008) – The Hope for Haitians Committee and Food For The Poor are honored to announce the seventh annual event, Catch a Tropical Breeze, will be held Saturday, August 23 at the Rockford Country Club. The Event Chairmen and Committee Members would like to invite everyone who is interested in continuing to make a difference by saving lives in Haiti.
Proceeds from last year’s gala, An Enchanted Evening, helped many Haitians call Rockford Friendship Village, in Prolonge, Cap-Haitien home. The goal for this year’s Catch a Tropical Breeze is to construct 50 homes, 25 sanitation units, and one artesian well. Rockford residents have generously supported Haiti’s destitute since 2001 by funding life-saving water projects, housing, and micro-enterprise opportunities.
Funds from the 2007 gala built 50 homes, 25 sanitation units, 2 artesian water wells, a community center, a solar panel light, three tilapia ponds, and a “Start-in-Life” project. From 2001-2006, The Hope For Haitians Committee and the caring people of the Rockford community raised funds to built 72 water wells, providing over 270,000 Haitians with access to clean, life-giving water and 50 housing units. The communities that have been served include Cotes-de-Fer, Port de Paix, Duval, Petionville, Barbancourt, Cap-Haitien, Limonade, Plaine du Nord, and Gonaives.
Catch a Tropical Breeze will feature dinner, entertainment by the Jodi Beach Trio, and an extraordinary silent auction. Auction items to include art and collectible items from Caribbean and Latin American countries, trips to exotic locations, jewelry, and dining packages for some of Chicago’s most desirable restaurants.
Reverend Duken Augustin, of Cap-Haitien, Haiti, will be the guest speaker at the 2008 Rockford gala. He is overseeing the construction of the Rockford Friendship Village, and works alongside Food For The Poor to improve the lives of the destitute in Haiti.
Tom Lorden, Pat Bachrodt, and Peter Roche serve as the Event Co-Chairmen for Catch a Tropical Breeze. Lorden, Bachrodt, and Roche traveled with Food For The Poor on a pilgrimage to Haiti, where they witnessed firsthand the devastating living conditions of the poor.
Committee members include: Reverend David Beauvais, Kathy Caruana, Mike Delany, Missy & Brian Hand, Nancy Lorden, Bob McLaughlin, Terry & Al Provenzano, Patti Rangel, Judy & Gerry Risch, Jody Schumacher and Jerry Weber.
Additional Catch a Tropical Breeze gala information is posted on Food For The Poor’s Web site at www.foodforthepoor.org/specialevents.
Food For The Poor, the second largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than simply feed the millions of hungry poor in 16 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. We provide 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% of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For additional information, please visit the Web site www.foodforthepoor.org.
Contact:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food for the Poor
(954) 427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]
Tom Lorden
Event Co-Chairman
(815) 964-1904
[email protected]