Goal Exceeded, Boca Grande Group Moves on to Next Project in Haiti
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Nov. 5, 2015) – Still celebrating the success of the last Boca Grande fundraiser, Food For The Poor donor Ben Scott is preparing for his next trip to Haiti and another event on Feb. 16, 2016, that will build even more homes in a destitute area called Gressier.
“Boca Grande residents were so generous at our last event that we were able to build 34 homes, four more than anticipated,” Scott said. “Eleven families are already in finished homes, and it is an answer to their prayers, because they were living in the most destitute situation that a person could endure.”
Scott will lead a group to Haiti in January to see how lives are being transformed in the Gressier area, and also visit Pierre Payen and Michaud, where the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee has built homes, a clinic, and dorms for a school.
Proceeds from the 2016 Boca Grande event will provide 26 homes with sanitation, solar lights, a community center and agriculture and animal husbandry projects. The event will be on Feb. 16 at Gasparilla Inn Beach Club, 445 Gilchrist Ave., Boca Grande, Fla.
“When we first visited Gressier, there were two outhouses for 60 families to share, and residents walked a quarter-mile to carry home water daily,” said Scott. “From what we had seen in other places that we have worked with Food For The Poor, we knew we had the power to transform the lives of those who had hope, but had nothing else. There are 60 families here that have been living in these conditions since the 2010 earthquake.”
To support the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee, Food For The Poor has committed to provide clean drinking water for the residents in Gressier.
“I would like to thank the philanthropists who have worked to answer the prayers of the families in Gressier, Haiti,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “I have traveled with Ben Scott several times to Haiti now, and it is incredible to see the ways that hundreds of lives have been changed because of his leadership of this committed group of residents in Boca Grande. They are tireless, never pausing before setting a new goal.”
The Hope for Haitians Committee has raised money to build a total of 197 Food For The Poor homes for destitute families since 2009, in Pierre Payen, Michaud, Manneville, Pon Batay, and Gressier, Haiti.
Reid Carpenter, a Naples resident, and Colvin McCrady, Scott, and Peter Soderberg of Boca Grande, traveled to Haiti last April to visit the villages of Gressier, Michaud, and Pon Batay.
In Pon Batay, more than 40 residents welcomed the travelers, singing ‘How Great Thou Art’ before praying a blessing of thanksgiving over the donors, and eagerly ushering them into their new Food For The Poor homes.
“The love and appreciation we received was so wonderful,” said Scott, who was especially moved by the children’s warm welcome.
“They are so appreciative to receive their safe, permanent Food For The Poor homes with access to water and sanitation. They describe their new homes as castles,” said Scott.
For additional information regarding the February 2016 Boca Grande event or travel opportunities to Haiti in January, please call 1-888-404-4248 or email [email protected].
Committee members include: Chairmen Ben and Louise Scott, the Rev. Gary Beatty, Randy and Ginny Bell, Henry and Ginny Bryant, the Rev. Jerome Carosella, the Rev. Michelle Robertshaw, George and Lois Castrucci, Patricia Chapman, Charlie and Florita Field, Lou & 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, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry 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.
Kathy Skipper
Director of Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6614
[email protected]
