Many Hearts for Haiti

My dad served in WWII and I vividly remember a story he told us shortly after 9/11 when the Red Cross was all over NYC. When his ship pulled into dock after serving in the War, the Red Cross was there serving coffee and donuts to the sailors. Amazingly though, the Red Cross made them pay for them! Now I know that was many years ago and things have changed, but I can't forget the hurt my dad expressed when he told that story. He vowed he would never give to the Red Cross and he stuck to his conviction. As a proud daughter, I have followed in his footsteps.

When the disaster in Haiti occured, I wanted to help, but I did not want to pick up the phone and call in a donation. It was really nice that so many big stars got together and gave thier time to answer phones and perform for such a good cause, but seriously, do we know where all that money is going to? We hear so much about the select few that hold high positions in these organizations who take advantage of their position and cushion their salaries & make additions to their homes etc., all with the hard earned money that kind hearted people have given to help others.

I wanted to help the people in Haiti but I wasn't sure how. Then I got a flier in the mail from our church, St. Brigid's Church here in Westbury. They happen to have a BIG Haitian community and in fact one of our priests was in Haiti when the earthquake happened. The Pastor sent e-mails out to all when he received word that Fr. Cini was safe. Both Courtney and Brandon have had several Haitian friends throughout their years at the school and because of that, the disaster struck a familiar chord. The flier I received was titled "Many Hearts for Haiti". Our church, together with another Haitian community in NYC, will be delivering supplies directly to the people in Haiti. Right then, I KNEW this is what I was going to do.

For years, so many people have helped my family and I felt it was only right to give back. I may not have alot of money, but I put some aside this past weekend and went shopping. I took the list I was given and had a great time in Target - Pedialyte, baby wash, band-aids, vitamins, Ensure, adult diapers, wipes, beans, gauze, alcohol etc etc. I had more in our cart for the people of Haiti than I did for us and I felt GOOD! When the kids and I dropped off the supplies, we were met by one of Brandon's old classmates who still has family down there. Thankfully, they were OK, but his sister explained the hardships they are going through. I felt SO GOOD knowing that my 1 box and 2 bags of supplies will be going DIRECTLY to the Haitian people.