Did You Know?

That the unemployment rate in Haiti is around 40%

That 80% of Haitians live below the poverty line

Yet suicides are are less than 1 per 100,000 population. 

It seems there are a lot of hardy folks in Haiti who live life the best they can and never give up...

June Meeting Notes

Twinning Committee June 2015 Meeting

Meeting came to order at 7:00

Opening Prayer – Andy Ancel

Chair Remarks: None worth mentioning J

Finance

Meghean could not make the meeting but texted in the following…

$11,699 in the account

$1,745 Wine Tasting

$7,357 Water Technicians

$1,014 Medical Mission

$185 to be sent in June for education

Container Shipment – No Report

Medical Mission – Dr Garvey

·         Dr Garvey will be meeting soon with the videographer

·         Dr Garvey showed a 4x6 photo on a card and suggested giving it out. Carolyn mentioned that she has done that in the past. Val mentioned she has a contact whose work is reasonably priced. Bob Lessard suggested sending to those people who have church envelopes instead of putting it in the envelope. Andy suggested that the mailing could go into the backpacks of the St Mary School Students.

·         Dr Garvey has gotten the OK to hold Hearts for Haiti at NDWH High School again. A possible date might be the Saturday before Valentines Day.

·         Medical Mission Weekend (what I’m calling it anyway)

o   There was a discussion of potential lists to use of the mailing. Carolyn has a list and the Carnival list was mentioned.

o   Bob Lessard said that summer is a bad time to hold events and do mailings.

o   There was discussion on holding Medical Mission Weekend in September before the car raffle tickets go on sale. The reasoning being that school will be back in session and summer vacations are over and we can make a bigger impact then.

Clean Water

Joe Debbs reported:

·         The funds were transferred to Father who sent two emails. The money was for the technicians. One is in high school the other in college. Joe feels that Father should be the one to determine the amount to pay the technicians as they are working part time.

·         Gift of Water called to say that $300 needs to be paid.

·         Joe would like to raise more funds for water but does not want to interfere with the medial mission. Ideally Joe needs $3,000-$4,000 a year. He would like them to be self-funded by selling the buckets and parts.

Fundraising- Bob Lessard

·         Bob is thinking of having the same type of Fall Event in Bridgeport with the same band as last Fall.

·         Bob said that one of the outcomes of the Heart for Haiti event is that it created a lot of buzz around the parish which should help us generate more attendees next year. He said the Rum Runners really bring in a crowd.

Communications – Valerie Carlson

·         Val will write the copy for the Medical Mission Card and wil write something for the bulletin.

·         Val mentioned that the Devon Rotary donated $1,000 and that the Bridgeport Rotary would like to help.

Haiti Area in Hall – Carolyn suggested that a Haiti area be created in the Hall. Andy suggested that the painting donated by the artist in Haiti that is currently hanging in the entry/exit way on the left hand side of the church between the church and Father Cronin Hall be moved to the Haiti area if the area is created.

Correspondence

·         PTPA is asking for a donation of $1,000-$2,000 for retried priests in Haiti

Very Short CDC Article on Haiti

Greetings!

I came across this short article on the CDC website about their efforts to help Haiti. Thought you might find it interesting. Click on the green link below...

Remarkable Progress Five Years after Haiti Earthquake, Haiti rebuilding national public health system with help from CDC

Agenda Items Reminder

Greetings

I created a box on the right hand side of the blog that contains agenda items for the next meeting. These are items that I see in correspondence, pick up in discussions and are reminders. 

Please send me an email if you have any items you want added to the list.

Thanks,
Andy

Hearts for Haiti Update

Greetings!

It appears that we are close to firming up plans for Hearts for Haiti next Winter. The Rum Runners have agreed to play again. Notre Dame West Haven High School has agreed to let us have the event on their campus. We now need to find a date that will work for us and the school. We are shooting for Saturday January 30th. Dr. Garvey is spearheading the logistics. We'll let you know the date as soon as we confirmation on one...

Next Meeting July 6

Greetings!

Just a quick mid-month reminder that our next meeting is Monday July 6. 

Although there is no agenda, among the items we will be covering is our proposed Medical Mission Weekend right after Labor Day. Parishioners will be back from vacation, school will have started and the thought is that we can make a bigger impact then than during the summer.