Brethren send two shipments of food for children in Haiti.

Two containers of food and supplies have been shipped to help children in Haiti this summer, through the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Material Resources program at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.

The container shipments are part of an ongoing disaster relief and rebuilding project of Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Church of the Brethren mission in Haiti. The shipments support the work of several organizations serving children in Haiti, including the Church of the Brethren mission; SELEEG, an organization of pastors in the city of Gonaives; the Eben-Ezer Mission in Gonaives; and the organization Feed My Starving Children, which supplied the food for the first shipment.

The first shipment arrived in Haiti in April and cleared customs in May. It included nutritionally balanced food packets to use in schools and church programs for children, reported Roy Winter, executive director of Brethren Disaster Ministries. "Feed My Starving Children donated the food, we provided shipping from Illinois to Gonaives. This was a direct request from the pastors group in Gonaives--SELEEG.... This food is designed to be served as hot meals for the children while at school. That way we know they are getting the food."

A second shipment in June included medical supplies for the hospital and clinic in Gonaives and canned chicken provided by the Meat Canning Committee of the Church of the Brethren’s Southern Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic Districts. The canned meat from the districts was shipped by Brethren Disaster Ministries, and is intended for distribution by the Church of the Brethren mission in Haiti. The distribution will be coordinated by mission coordinator Ludovic St. Fleur.

Michel Morisset, pastor of the Eben-Ezer Mission, responded to the shipment of food with a thank you letter by e-mail. "In the name of SELEEG and Eben-Ezer Mission, we wish to thank you for the food donation," he wrote. He reported that SELEEG's board held a meeting to plan for the distribution of the food among its members (churches, church organizations, orphans, schools, etc.), and that the distribution began on June 23.

"Many people are happy," his e-mail concluded.

The Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) recently gave a major grant of $65,000 to continue support for the work in Haiti. Previous grants to this project total $305,000.

In another recent grant, the EDF issued $20,000 to help Brethren Disaster Ministries open a new rebuilding project in northwest Indiana. The project continues Brethren work in the state following heavy rains and flooding last September. The grant will support volunteer housing at the new project site, as well as food, tools, equipment, and other on-site expenses. Go to www.brethren.org and click on the link for "Serve" and then "Brethren Disaster Ministries" for more information about disaster relief.

Source: 7/30/2009 Newsline