Hope is not about moving mountains.
It’s about moving one single stone, and then another.
Since 1994, Haiti Marycare has been working with local partners to improve lives through child and family health programs, education, and community development. This Advent season we are so pleased to assist them in their critical work through our Advent gift – a parish-wide vitamin collection after all Masses on the weekends of December 8-9 and 15-16. We are specifically in need of pre-natal vitamins, multi-vitamins for adults, and children’s chewable vitamins. (Please no gummy vitamins – they melt). Pre-natal vitamins, while expensive, are available without a prescription and can mean the difference between having a healthy newborn or one who suffers from birth defects.
Haiti is a country of 8 million people, 98 percent of whom live in rural areas and 2 percent of whom live in the capitol, Port au Prince. Life expectancy is 52 years, and of 1,000 children born, 123 die before the age of five. Everyone suffers from a lack of nutritious food and vitamins, and for pregnant and nursing mothers the situation is far worse. Many mothers eat less so they can give more to their children. Despite these unimaginable statistics, Haiti remains a country defined by people of great hope and spirit. A common proverb in Haiti is “Lespwa fe viv”, which means “Hope makes us live.” Let us bring hope to this impoverished nation and to their people.
If you have any questions, please contact Beth Dugan (bethdugan@comcast.net) or Marybeth Schulte (mbschulte@comcast.net). We thank you in advance for your generosity.
The Parish Service Commission
