Haiti Fundraiser Opens Hearts and Pockets
Following the devastation of the recent earthquake in Haiti, the staff and students of Hazelwood College opened their hearts and particularly their pockets in order to raise much needed funds for the millions of people left destitute following this natural disaster.
The fundraiser – a non uniform day which was held on Wednesday 3rd February was the brainchild of first year students Stephanie Kirwan and Aisling McCarthy who wanted to raise money for the Haiti Relief Fund. With the help of their fellow classmates Julia O’ Doherty and Sharon Roche posters were designed and funds were collected from students and staff over a number of days.
While there are many organisations working hard to provide relief and support for those devastated by the earthquake, the school decided to support the Crudem Foundation in Haiti as local girl Denise Kelly from Granagh works voluntarily on the board as executive director. The Crudem Foundation provides accessible primary healthcare to the poor regardless of their religion, economic status or medical condition. Services available in the Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot which is located 70km north of Port au Prince include vaccinations, pre-natal care, basic hygiene and nutrition training, HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria treatment. Surgical training is also provided for Haitian medical staff along with a mobile clinic which serves over 200 patients per week who are unable to avail of on-site hospital services. Denise spent four years volunteering at the hospital campus and now works full –time from Dublin to ensure that the hospital has the necessary medical supplies, equipment, medical volunteers and finances required on a daily basis.
Denise is not the only member of her family involved in helping the people of Haiti as her brother James has taken time out of his studies and is currently volunteering as an interpreter in Haiti. Also her mother Maureen and her aunt Grace McCarthy are busily fund raising locally with up to 40 collection boxes available in shops throughout the county such as Newcastlewest, Croom, Patrickswell, Ballingarry etc. and across the county bounds in Cork.
“We’re delighted as up to €10,000 has been raised to date by schools and personal donations. I’m asking people to think about giving to the Crudem Foundation if they want to support a charity, as 100% of the money goes directly to the organisation unlike other charities” Grace McCarthy said.
Due to work commitments Denise was unable to personally accept the cheque but her mother and aunt visited the school and spoke to students on her behalf. They outlined the pressures the hospital is presently experiencing as they receive patients requiring major surgeries with heavily infected wounds and a large percentage of patients requiring amputations. This also creates a need for crutches and prostheses which are not typically stocked in large numbers.
“The price of food such as rice and fuel has also skyrocketed as demand exceeds availability but the schools donation will go along way to pay for these, as when converted to Haitian dollars it almost doubles” according to Maureen.
Management in the school were delighted with the response and the amazing generosity and compassion shown by staff, students and their families as an incredible €1,693 was raised in total.
“Over the last few days students have come into school with money boxes, along with anonymous donations from individuals in the locality. We would like to sincerely thank everyone for their support especially during these recessionary times” said Ms. Daly.
Contributions, however small can be made by contacting Denise by email [[email protected] ] or the website www.crudem.org. For more information and blogs from volunteers, follow facebook on crudem_haiti and twitter for updates.
