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August's
Charity of the Month:
Haiti
Episcopal Learning Project (HELP)
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Don
Downing in front of a Haitian painting. |
Brightly colored
paintings and intricate wood carvings tell the stories of hope and inner-beauty
that prevails amongst the Haitian people who live in a country plagued
by extreme poverty and human suffering. Don Downing,
a 32-year MDRT member and Silver Knight from Prairie Village, Kansas,
sells this Haitian art in his native town as one effort to help raise
funds for the Haitian Episcopal Learning Project (HELP), which he played
an integral role in founding 20 years ago.
Downing was one
of the 26 MDRT members who were presented with a Quality of Life Award
at the 2005 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, in recognition of his dedicated
volunteer work with HELP. On behalf of Downing, the MDRT Foundation
awarded HELP a $10,000 grant which will be used to fund HELP’s Loaves
and Fish Program. This grant will provide rice-based meals for impoverished
families in six communities in rural southern Haiti.
“This grant will
literally make the difference between life and death for some of these
people. I am honored to be a member of an organization that helps in
so many ways,” Downing said.
The primary focus
of HELP is to provide medical, nutritional and educational support to
the people of Haiti, who live in a country where the average annual
income is $360 and where one out of four people cannot read. Since its
inception in 1984, HELP has raised more than $1 million and has built
12 schools, a birthing center and a community well for drinking water.
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