Another Milestone Reached!

This past weekend, with help from Jim Wishmyer, Kim Kadesch, Ray Ginman and several other volunteers, the 48 large boxes and 25 buckets of tents, supplies and tools we purchased and collected over the past several months were put on one of two trucks bound for Miami, Florida, courtesy of Community Coalition for Haiti (CCH). From there the trucks will be put into a shipping container and shipped directly to Haiti. As soon as our truck navigants its way through Haiti Customs, it will be driven directly to Jacmel, Haiti. And once the truck reaches Jacmel, I hope to return with several volunteers to distribute our collected supplies to our Haitian neighbors. More details to follow.

One Step Closer!

On 9/27, we dropped off 48 large boxes and 25 buckets of supplies at a local storage unit, which is being rented by the Community Coalition for Haiti (CCH). Here is a photo of some of our packers. The items we dropped off included tents, tarps, tools, musical instruments, shoes, clothes, toiletries, school supplies, soccer balls, toys and more. CCH is in the process of trying to secure a shipping container to deliver our (and CCH's) supplies to Jacmel, Haiti. I haven't heard any details about the shipping container yet, but we should know soon. Unfortunately, it could take months for the supplies to reach Jacmel. UGH! Once we have more details, we can start kicking around dates for a return trip to Haiti.

Homer Goes to Haiti!

There is currently a big push in Haiti to try to move people displaced by January's 7.0 earthquake from tents to more permanent forms of shelter. Many homes are damaged beyond repair, but some are fixable. That's where Homer comes in. No, not Homer Simpson, but rather Homer from Home Depot. Jerry Michaels, the manager of Leesburg's Home Depot and his staff helped us assemble Shelter Repair Kits for some of Haiti's homeless. Each Kit, which costs about $300, includes dozens of basic tools and supplies that can be used to repair existing homes. Home Depot also provided us with a generous discount on the tools and supplies, which was much appreciated. These Kits will be on there way to Haiti soon.

The Tents Are Here!

Here is one of the tents that we ordered for the St. Charles Community in Jacmel, Haiti. This photo was taken without the fly. We bought these tents from REI during an end-of-the-season sale. The tents regularly sell for $349 each, but we were able to purchase them for only $249 a piece. The tents will sleep 4 people and are fairly durable with four metal poles. We also purchased footprints for the tents for $30 each, which should help reduce groundwater infiltration during heavy rainfalls.

Bill Clinton Speaks About Progress in Haiti

Here is a recent Meet the Press interview of Bill Clinton regarding the status of reconstruction in Haiti. It doesn't sound to good to me.

- Only 2 percent of debris cleared.

- $1.5 million Haitians still living in tents.

- Only $5 billion of $11 billion pledged by foreign donors has been distributed.

Haiti Wants You!

Are you interested in going on a mission trip to Haiti this fall? We're looking for a few good men and/or women to travel to Jacmel, Haiti to help erect tents for the St. Charles Head Together Community. The exact timing of the trip is still being worked out.

Over the past several months, we have raised about $16,000 toward our goal of $30,000. These funds will be used to purchase tents for the St. Charles Community. We need volunteers, however, to help erect the tents along side the Community members.

Please let me know if you have any interest in traveling to Haiti this fall. I can be reached at (540) 882-9194 or via e-mail at denicore@msn.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Instruments in the Attic Goes International

When I was in Haiti this past April, I met Pastor Robert Noel. Pastor Noel is the pastor of a Wesleyan Church in Jacmel, Haiti. Here is a photo of his Church.

During my visit, Pastor Noel mentioned that he was interested in attracting people to his Church through music. The problem, however, was that he only had one guitar. I told Pastor Noel that I would try to find him some more musical instruments when I returned to the States.

Today, I picked up several musical instruments from George Mason University, which is located in Fairfax, Virginia. The instruments include a keyboard, a guitar, a ukulele, a drum set, recorders, tambourines, and much more. GMU has a program called "Instruments in the Attic" in which they collect donated musical instruments, refurbish them, and then send them back out into the community. Here is a link to an article about GMU's program and our plan to deliver the newly donated instruments to Pastor Noel this fall.