Busy week for Be the Power of One!

What an exciting week & it's only Wednesday! We had a meeting yesterday with a group at Minarets High School to begin planning of their concert in May to benefit Be the Power of One. This will be great event, and we are forever thankful to the students and staff at Minarets who are a joy to work with. Stay tuned for more information. Today we had a presentation with an amazing group of about 40 women at Stone Croft Ministries. We so appreciate the opportunity to talk with them - they seemed interested in our story, asked some good questions and were very generous with their donations.

Send a Student to School

Thanks to our friends Jean-Ronel and Chedlin in Pignon we have these wonderful pictures of our students in Pignon, Haiti. Your generous donations have, among other things, paid for the school uniforms they are wearing. As you can see, Christnerlan is a very happy girl. She has a brother and two sisters that keep her pa...rents, Richemond (a farmer) and Josette (a homemaker) very busy. Bukenson says he enjoys seeing his friends at school. His father Paule is also a farmer and his mother Mariolene is busy too with Bukenson and his two brothers and sisters. These smiles are a wonderful result of the donations that can be made through our "Send a Student to School" program. A monthly donation of $10 or a one time donation of $120 covers all the costs associated with attending school and provides a hot meal each day for these students. In Haiti only 10% of all schools are funded by the government. If you would like to participate in this program just click here.  You can donate online using your PayPal account or major credit card.
By: Be the Power of One

Photos: 2..

Another Great Connection

Yesterday we had a great meeting with Pastor Cody Gunderson at the Yosemite Lakes Community Church in Coarsegold, Calif. He's a really dynamic speaker and great storyteller. A group from his church has made several trips to Haiti, the latest group is headed out in two weeks, where they support a variety of projects in and around Port-au-Prince. We share some of the same feelings of being overwhelmed by the level of need wherever you turn. It becomes necessary to focus on what you are doing to improve conditions and realize that it will take a mamouth effort and many years to rebuild Port-au-Prince. We talked a little about rural Haiti, Pignon in particular, and how different the needs are there compared to the city. Infrastructure may be a mess in Port-au-Prince but it is almost nonexistant in rural areas. Someday we may get a chance to work together on a project. What a wonderful group of people with lots of energy and serious interest in helping the world community.

Yoga Mat Alert!!!

O.k. all, here's a challenge. Last time we were in Haiti, we had a chance to talk with the teachers at the school in Pignon. One thing they asked for was nap mats for the young kids (remember kindergarten, milk & graham crackers & a nap?). Anyway, what we're looking for is any clean, gently used (or new) yoga mats sitting around collecting dust. Let us know & we'll arrange a way to get them to us. & don't forget to spread the word!

What a great question?

Last week when we were in So. Calif a couple of people asked if there was a list of items needed for Haiti. A list...what a great idea. We'll have to work on that. But until then, our initial response has always been, "They need everything and nothing will go to waste." We realize that isn't a very clear message so here goes...things we always need donated are; toothbrushes and toothpaste (ask you...r dentist to donate his samples), #2 pencils, coloring books, crayons, markers, scotch tape, spiral notebooks, jump ropes, inflatable balls/toys, small toys, play-doh and other school supplies that are hard to break during shipping. Hope this helps. We have people in Southern and Central California that can pick items up which will save shipping costs. Thanks!!

Next Week's Event

Spent some time this evening getting together prints from Haiti for next week's fundraiser at the Bradfords in Claremont. Little wine, some appetizers and then tell the story of Be the Power of One. The prints have been a fun way to raise funds. Some of the shots were taken by us and others by Jean Ronal. Someday we hope to have these available to purchase directly from the website.

FACEBOOK, PAYPAL and MORE....

There will be more on this later but...just last night we set up a Facebook page for Be the Power of One. It was so easy, alot of fun and we're really excited about using this as a way to keep everyone updated on what is going on. Soon we will be including a "button" so people will be able to donate with their credit or debit card directly from this blog, the FB page or emails. Boy, the 21st century is amazing....