So What Have We Been Up To?

It's been a little while since I've updated here, but so much has happened!

Last Thursday, April 22, we set up our table, hung our sign and began passing out informational flyers at the WalMart in Quakertown. As I've said before, the folks at the WM up there have been more than helpful as we have come in multiple times to get 4 & 5 cart loads of towels, band-aids, toothbrushes, soap, etc. So when we began to think about where to hold some fundraisers, that was the perfect place to start.

It was a rather chilly morning, but we put on our smiles and started to greet customers by saying "Good morning, we're with the Tents for Haiti Project and we are doing a fundraiser today to raise money to send down our 2nd trailer load of aid." There were mixed reactions from excitement, to quizzical looks, to total disinterest, but overall, people were very receptive to at least listening to what our project was all about. Some folks gave money, some shopped for things we put into relief kits and at the end of the 13 hours, we went home, again feeling very blessed and thankful to live in such a generous, giving community.

At that fundraiser, we received $659.09 and lots of hygiene supplies! Thanks to everyone who came out and gave something for our project- thanks even go to the people that asked the hard questions, then allowed us to answer their concerns. We appreciate each and every one of you!

Then on Friday, we got a call that our 2nd trailer was ready to be loaded. Now, we didn't have a whole trailer to load, as we had pallets of things that hadn't fit on our first trailer that were now on this trailer. We got about 7 other people and, after cleaning out our storage unit in Telford, took everything over to the loading dock and began unloading the cube truck into the trailer. We sent more tents, blankets, sheets, sleeping bags, medical supplies, walkers, crutches, a wheelchair, a crib, empty buckets and 160 more "Hope in a Bucket" kits! It was a great feeling of accomplishment to know that these items would again be delivered to people who so desperately need what we are sending.

Our sincerest thanks go to Gus Kerver, a truck-driving friend of Jim Frankenfield's, who gave time away from his family to drive this trailer down to the port in Florida, arriving this morning, where God willing, this trailer will set sail this afternoon for Port au Prince!!

Then, on Sunday afternoon, after a morning of cold rain, we held our second fundraiser at the Rita's in Harleysville. Upon arriving, we set up a canopy to cover/protect our raffle prizes, we set up a computer that showed a "movie" of our Project from it's beginning through the delivery of the first trailer to Cotes de Fer, and we waited for people to show up...

We didn't have to wait long! Friends from church started trickling in and despite the weather, we had a pretty good turnout. It was a great afternoon of water ice & custard, lots of laughing, renewing of friendships and raising money to help our friends in Haiti. All tolled, we raised over $550.00 that afternoon. Another success!

That brings us to our third fundraiser, which will be held tomorrow night, Thursday, 4/29, from 5-9 p.m. at the Quakertown Red Robin. For anyone who comes into the restaurant with a TFH coupon and buys food and/or beverages (alcohol is excluded), Red Robin will donate 10% of that amount back to the Tents for Haiti Project. That is a win/win proposition- you buy dinner for your family at a place that has awesome food and they give us 10% of whatever you spend!! How do you get a coupon, you ask? Go to this link: http://www.identitypa.com/robin_flyer.pdf

We hope to see you there!

Our last planned fundraiser is a doozy! On Friday night, May 7 we will be holding the "Hope for Haiti Marketplace" in conjunction with "Spade & Trade for Haiti". The "Marketplace" will be held in the West Street Community Center at Souderton Mennonite Church, 105 W. Chestnut St., and there you will find all your favorite Home Party companies. There will be 19 vendors including Pampered Chef, Avon, Silpada, Tupperware, Close To My Heart, Mia Bella Candles, Mary Kay, Uppercase Living, Lia Sophia, Arbonne and more. You can also purchase beautiful notecards by our own 13-yr. old photographer, Mattea Ruth! There will be raffle prizes donated by each of the vendors and also, a bake sale where you can purchase some really wonderful treats!

At the same time all this is going on, we are going to be holding "Spade & Trade for Haiti" out in the lower parking lot. For this event, people who have extra perennials, tubers, etc. will be donating their excess and then anyone who is interested in having new plants for their garden may choose whatever they want and all we ask is a donation in any amount- maybe what you would have to pay for the things you chose in a garden center. If you have plants to donate or questions about this event, please email richdawn.moore@gmail.com. If you just want new plants, don't feel you need to bring plants-anyone can "trade"!

We are anticipating a great night of fun so tell your friends and come on out! We'll be looking for you!!

Christmas in April?

Since our first trailer load has been delivered and distributed throughout Cotes de Fer and the surrounding area, we have been working on filling our second trailer. We've gotten some great donations again- a friend from the community donated a wheelchair, some walkers and a lot of medical supplies from a relative who passed away- what a great way to honor that person's memory, than to help others! We also received six pallets of wheelchairs, walkers and crutches through the generosity of St. Luke's Hospital in Quakertown!

We anticipate the arrival in our storage facility of about 300+ tents that have been donated through the requests of two local Christian radio stations, WBYN and the WordFM. This is exciting to us to see our community working together to meet the needs of the Haitians as they face the reality of rainy season, combined with having lost their homes to the earthquake.

This week, I experienced what I can only call "Christmas in April"...I had been at church all morning, working on putting relief kits (also lovingly known as "Hope in a Bucket") together. I had to stop because I had run out of Band-Aids. I went to meet Janeen in the park for lunch, then took a car load of supplies over to our storage unit. I then returned to church for my second load of tents and blankets. When I walked into the room we are using to store the "stuff" till we can take it to storage, I could hardly believe my eyes!

There, on the floor, were tons (or so it seemed to me) of buckets full of supplies- and LOTS of Band-Aids!! I was like a little kid as I ripped open bags to find toothbrushes, soap, combs, nail clippers and more.

Where had all this come from, you ask? Well, thanks go to Anita Souder and her students at Quakertown Christian School, who had been collecting these items and took the time to deliver them to the church on Friday.

Again, I am reminded how generous you all are when you are told of a need, whether that need is here at home, or in an island nation far removed from this area. We, at the Tents for Haiti Project, want you to know how much that generosity is appreciated and how thankful we are to live in a place that takes care of its neighbors, no matter where they are located!

We are shifting our focus from collecting items to collecting money to be able to ship these donated items to our friends in Haiti. We are also anticipating the need to possibly purchase some buildng materials in the near future.

If you are interested in donating money to this effort, please email us at tentsforhaiti@hotmail.com or go to our Facebook page "Tents for Haiti Project Donation Page", where you will find a Paypal button so you can donate with just a click! Thanks for all you have done and all you continue to do!

May you be blessed as you have blessed others!

Whew! What a Week!

Our team is home and very tired, but also very energized by what they saw and experienced last week, when they went to Cotes de Fer, Haiti to distribute the aid that you, our wonderful community, helped us to gather.

Our 53' foot trailer was unloaded into 3 "smaller" trucks and then driven the 4 hours into Cotes de Fer. As you can imagine, the scene was somewhat chaotic as people lined up to receive their items, but it was an organized chaos. The people were so happy to know that they had not been forgotten and that Jim had kept his word to bring relief supplies back to them.

We had been given about 300 Creole Bibles to take down and to the team's "surprise", although, that may not be the right word, many of the people would have cheerfully given up their tent if they would have had to choose between getting a tent or getting a Bible. (For our next trailer load, we definitely need to get more Creole Bibles!)

It was a very emotional time for our team, to see first-hand the conditions these wonderful people were existing in, and to find out that, even in the midst of all this, they hadn't lost hope.

I'm going to put some pictures in this entry, but to see more, please go to our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=297039035517&view=user#!/group.php?gid=297039035517

We welcome your comments and questions! Feel free to become a fan on Facebook or to email us at tentsforhaiti@hotmail.com

Giving and Receiving Blessings

This has been an exciting week for the TENTS FOR HAITI Project! We have had a group of 6 persons down in Haiti for the purpose of handing out the supplies our community has so generously donated.

On Monday, when they arrived in Port au Prince, they were fully expecting the trailer to be released from customs within the hour of their arrival. As sometimes happens, things did not go according to plan and the release was delayed...indefinitely, as far as our team was concerned.

They made their way to Passe Bois D'Ormes, where Water For Life is located, and where they would be staying during their week in Haiti.

On Tuesday afternoon/evening, they got word that the trailer had not only been released from customs, but it was already in Veribu, which was about 4 hours outside of Cotes de Fer. When I spoke to Janeen, she told me they were very surprised by this news....they had no idea it had been released from customs, let alone driven so close to where they were! (of course that makes me wonder who drove it out there...with the way things have been going, it may have been God Himself!)

Now the concern was how to get the aid & supplies from the 53' foot trailer to Cotes de Fer, since the roads would never support a vehicle of this size. Janeen asked her husband, Rick, to ask for prayers from home that a smaller truck would be located.

In the entry previous to this one, you can read how God answered this prayer...the same night! So plans were made to meet back early the next morning to begin unloading the trailer into the smaller truck for the 4-hour trip to Cotes de Fer.

(A small side note: the team was in Cotes de Fer Tuesday evening, where they presented a banjo, a gift from one of the original service team members, to Ti Ton Ton, "Little Uncle", - the man whose leg had been severely broken, who our team tried to help in the days after the earthquake. Our team was afraid they'd "left him there to die"...but God intervened and today, he is happy, healthy and bringing music back to the village!)

Wednesday morning, Janeen called me, full of excitement to say that they had a "crew" of about 10 Haitian volunteers who were helping to unload the trailer and she said everyone was so upbeat and cheerful during this whole time. She asked that we pray for continued good weather, as any rain at all would make the dirt road completely unpassable. She also said that they'd be done unloading/loading in about 2 hours and would be on their way back to Cotes de Fer.

We got word last night that the group had been able to hand out about one-half of the aid/supplies. They divided things into 3 smaller trucks- tents, relief kits, misc. other supplies including Creole Bibles. The people reacted with gratitude and joy for what was being given to them. They were all very thankful and humbled to know that there were Americans who cared enough for them to see that they received all this help.

One woman, after receiving her Bible, held it over her head and danced for joy- as if it was the first Bible she ever held. That was very emotionally moving for the members of our team, after all, that's really why we are all doing this- to let these wonderful people know that as much as we love them, God loves them even more and He wants to have a personal relationship with them!

So, as I spoke to Rick this morning, the plan for today was to continue handing out the remaining aid/supplies until this evening when the team will return to Passe Bois D'Orme for a church service there. Afterwards, they will begin packing and getting ready for their trip home tomorrow. Please continue to pray for safe travels for the team and thank you for your prayers and support to this point.

Once the group is back and is able to gather their thoughts, we will be sharing more with you about their trip. This account has been mostly second-hand, and for that I apologize, but this is the best information we have until they get home and can tell us in their own words and show us pictures. Be sure to check back for the "first-hand" accounts!

Also, keep an eye out for news that we are going to be loading our second trailer of aid. It will be happening very soon!! Thanks and God bless!!

All We Need To Do Is Keep Moving Forward...

Our team arrived safely in Port au Prince, Haiti on Monday, just before noon, and were anxiously awaiting word that our first trailer load of aid had been released from customs, but it seems "The Timing" wasn't quite right...the release didn't come until Tuesday. No big deal- sometimes that's just the way things go in Haiti!

The trailer WAS released on Tuesday, and was able to be taken the 12 hour trip by dirt road to just outside the village of Cotes de Fer. They had to leave it where it was due to the fact that the roads into Cotes de Fer were unpassable for a vehicle of this size.

The next big question for the team was "Where can we get a truck to be able to start to unload the trailer and get this aid in to the people?" As of 7:00 p.m. last night, there were no answers...with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, I posted to our Facebook page last night "ummm.....I hope they told God. He probably has one waiting right around the corner. He's been doing stuff like that! :P"

This morning, I woke to find a response to that posting from Jim Frankenfield, which says, "Yep. Actually prayed for a truck before we left the great people of Cotes de Fer tonite, and during the hour and a half trip back to Passe Bois D'Ormes [where Water For Life is located and where the team is staying], we found a guy along the side of the road who has a truck.....unbelievable...we will meet him early tomorrow morning and try to get some of the stuff across the 4 hour dirt road. This will be a long day."

I'm surprised but I'm so not...it seems that every time we think we are running into a roadblock with this project, God has already been there and figured it out for us...all we need to do is keep moving forward!

So, today, I ask for your prayers for our team as they begin the long and tedious process of unloading the trailer into the truck and driving that long, dusty 4 hours...but then also for the joyful time when they will be hand-delivering the supplies and aid you have helped to provide for tthe people Cotes de Fer.

I'm sure our team is experiencing incredible highs and lows on this adventure and would ask you to keep our friends in Cotes de Fer, and all of Haiti, in your prayers.

The Day Has Finally Arrived!

Today is the day we've been waiting and praying for...the day our trailer comes out of customs and begins it's trek from Port au Prince to Cotes de Fer, Haiti!

As we have come to find out here in the TENTS FOR HAITI Project, God's timing is perfect. Even as I type this, a group of 6 people from our team are on their way to Haiti, to be in Cotes de Fer when those trailer doors are opened.

For the full story, let me once again quote Jim Frankenfield's Facebook entry- he says it so well...

"Ever since the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, there has been a group of friends and family that have been diligently working to fill the first semi trailer full of tents, food and relief items. Through a series of miracles and God's intervention, this became a reality and our trailer full of Blessings left for Florida, awaiting a ship to take it to Haiti. Due to unforeseen problems at the Florida docks and with the ship, the trailer's journey was delayed.

A group of five of us from here in Pennsylvania and a dear friend in Branson, MO were anxiously trying to come up with a date and time the trailer would be availible in Haiti so we could [book] our flights to coordinate with the release and unloading of the trailer. Nothing seemed to jive, the flights were either too expensive or the wrong time, and the trailer landing date was unknown.

Here is the part of divine intervention. We booked our flight on Delta out of JFK to arrive in Port Au Prince this Monday (April 5) at 11:55 am, not knowing when the trailer would arrive. The ship with our trailer landed in Port Au Prince at 9:00AM Thurs. morning. I just received a phone call tonight (Friday, April 2), from Haiti, telling me that our trailer will be released from Haiti Customs at 11:00 Monday morning, 55 minutes before we land! I consider this a gift from God, and I am grateful that He alone could arrange all of this to fall within 55 minutes-our arrival [in Haiti] and the release of the trailer from Customs.

Please continue to think of us in your prayers as we travel to Haiti to offer our relief and help to our dear friends. Thank You!"

So, there you have it- the story of how God has gone before us every step of the way with this first trailer. We know He will continue to lead us as we fill our second and third trailers and we are grateful for all you, our wonderful neighbors, have donated and done to help us help our Haitian brothers and sisters.

As word and pictures come back from Haiti this week, be sure to check back in. We will post any and all information as we receive it. Please keep this group in your prayers and also the people of Haiti. Thanks again for all your love and support, both for us and for them!