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April's
Charity of the Month: Hunger Plus Inc., based in Montgomery, Texas, received a $1,500 USD Worldwide grant from the MDRT Foundation on March 16, 2004. These funds will promote the "plus" side of their mission — self-sufficiency — by making necessary improvements to a Haitian orphanage. Robert B. Shearer, CLU, ChFC, a 32-year MDRT member and Gold Knight from Missouri City, Texas, sponsored the grant. The grant will help complete the second phase of a three-part improvement project for The Renmen Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The founder of the orphanage constructed new classrooms but only had funds to put together shells of rooms with a leaky canopy as a roof. This project will complete the building with a concrete roof, windows and doors. The classrooms will then be used as sleeping quarters during the third phase of the project, which will expand the dormitory to accommodate beds for 40 children ages one to 18. Not only will these improvements make the lives of the orphans a little easier, but they will provide construction work for local people who are unemployed. The first phase of the project fixed leaks in the sleeping quarters and brought potable water and dependable electricity to the orphanage. Many of the children in the care of the orphanage actually have living parents, but were abandoned by their parents out of love and hope for a better life. Haiti, which has been in the news recently due to intense political unrest, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The standard of living in Haiti is alarming, with 80 percent of the population living in abject poverty and two-thirds without paid work of any kind. To date, the MDRT Foundation has granted $54,500 USD to organizations and projects specifically serving the people of Haiti. Later this year, the MDRT Foundation is granting an additional Worldwide grant for $10,000 USD to the Haitian Health Foundation, based in Norwich, Connecticut. These funds will provide multivitamins with iron to 3,500 anemic children in the mountain villages near Jeremie, Haiti. Hunger Plus Inc. is a volunteer-run organization that provides food and related supplies for emergency use and for longer-term projects to improve food security. The organization was created because starving people in a remote region of Mexico found compassionate people in Texas willing to help them in their time of need. Since 1997, Hunger Plus, Inc. has conducted projects on every continent except Antarctica, and it can ship food anywhere in the world for approximately six cents a meal. If you like to learn more about Hunger Plus Inc., please visit its Web site at www.hungerplus.org. |
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