Gala Blesses Bernard Mevs Clinic in Haiti
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Andy and Florette Sokulski want to save as many lives as possible and have extended the fundraising for Food For The Poor’s Our Lady Of The Poor Medical Clinic in honor of their daughter, Julie Sokulski Hesser. | |
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Sept. 29, 2014) — Nine months of operational costs at Food For The Poor’s Our Lady Of The Poor Medical Clinic at the Bernard Mevs Hospital, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, will be covered, thanks to a Chicago couple intent on honoring the memory of their daughter. The Sept. 10 fundraiser in Streamwood, Illinois, was the ninth year the couple has gathered generous friends to help the poor.
Dedicated to saving as many lives as possible, Andy and Florette Sokulski have asked that fundraising in honor of their daughter, Julie Sokulski Hesser, be extended through the end of the year.
Food For The Poor Executive Director Angel Aloma and Food For The Poor Haiti Project Manager Delane Bailey-Herd spoke at the event and thanked attendees for their support.
“The compassion you show tonight will save lives,” said Aloma. “The majority of the clinic’s beneficiaries live in makeshift shacks, and struggle to earn a living. When the poor come to Our Lady Of The Poor Medical Clinic, they have full assurance that they will receive superior quality medical treatment.”
Thousands of patients benefit from and rely on the lifesaving medical services offered at this Food For The Poor sponsored clinic. The clinic’s AIDS Pediatric Care Center provides the poor with quality outpatient services, emergency treatment, diagnostic services through its state-of-the–art laboratory, surgical procedures, pharmaceutical products, and long-term chronic disease management.
“The lifesaving treatment patients receive at Food For The Poor’s Our Lady Of The Poor Medical Clinic is transformational,” said Bailey-Herd. “The clinic is an oasis and safe haven for babies that are born with malformations and need immediate medical attention. Here, they are loved and cared for, and given second chances.”
Since 2011, event proceeds have been used to modernize the Haiti hospital by building operating and recovery rooms, and purchasing new equipment. In 2012, Andy and Florette traveled to the Bernard Mevs Hospital to meet the hospital’s surgeons, and to see how patients benefited from their projects. Share in the Sokulski’s experience by watching their video at www.foodforthepoor.org/julie.
To make a donation to help cover the clinic’s monthly operational costs, please call 888-404-4248 or email [email protected].
“When we face struggles, anxieties, joys and sorrows in our lives, it is good to know God has sent us help, and good people to laugh, support and have some fun as well,” said Florette Sokulski. “So much in this world is temporary, but friendships founded in Christ can be a lovely source of comfort and joy.”
When Andy and Florette lost their daughter at the age of 32, they were inspired to help others by Julie Sokulski Hesser’s strength, faith and courage during her final days. They began raising money in 2006 with Father Medard Laz and members of the Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, Ill., to create a living legacy in honor of their daughter through Food For The Poor projects.
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. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations Associate
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]
