Dear Friends,
I am very grateful for all the well-wishes and prayers, as my country of origin Haiti is going through the continuing devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew. Asall of you may have guessed, it is extremely painful and costly for a poor country to be battered by Mother Nature, as the infrastructure and resources of my Haiti are not adequate enough to withstand such rage from life elements. So I do thank you all for your calls, your thoughts and prayers, please keep them coming. As we speak, I have yet to hear from my close relatives and loved ones, but as we proud Haitians and Haitian-Americans say often, "No news is good news".
As for those of you who wish to help, or contribute in some way, I expect that there will be shortages of potable water, first aid supplies, and food. As all the roads are projected to be severely damaged, most of the 9 MILLION people outside of the capital Port-au-Prince will be cut off from the goods that mostly come from the country capital. As such, I think that the best thing to do, for those who can help, is to help securing EXISTING warehouses of food supplies in cities such as Jeremie, Haiti, where food shortages had already started in February 2016.
So if you want to help, please consider purchasing bundles of food that can be distributed directly to the population, after emergency needs are addressed. There bundles of food available at $103.75 (food for 1 person for a month), $172.50 (food for 2 people for a month) and $245.00 (food for 4 people for a month). These donations will be tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt and a thank-you letter from the World Youth Served Board of Directors, on which I serve as the Vice-President. You can make your selections below and you will be taken to our checkout page courtesy of PayPal.
The distribution of the food will be conducted by Shaping Haiti's Youth, Inc. (www.shapinghaitisyouth.org), as they had already been trying to build a distribution network with World Youth Served as part of the DRINK COFFEE HELP HAITI campaign (www.drinkcoffeehelphaiti.org). Again, I thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of an unfortunate, but proud country.
With Compassion, Commitment and Character,
Ray Rene
Vice-President
World Youth Served Board of Directors.
