March 31, 2010
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

In the nearly three months since a magnitude-7 earthquake devastated large parts of Haiti on Jan. 12, Episcopalians have helped survivors in ways both large and small.

The donations run the gamut from pick-up trucks to balls and dolls, to cite just three examples.

The trucks, which have come to the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti through a major fund-raising effort in the Diocese of Virginia, are needed to ferry supplies to quake victims who have settled in church communities in hilltop villages outside of Port-au-Prince and Léogâne.

Soccer balls and basketballs (and pumps with which to inflate them), hard rubber balls and handmade dolls are among the items that traveled to Haiti during Holy Week and were destined for some of the children among the approximately 25,000 to 30,000 survivors who are living in more than 60 settlements connected to the diocese.

The balls came from Rhonda Busch, an administrator at Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, Virginia. The Rev. Lauren Stanley, Episcopal Church-appointed missionary in Haiti and Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin's liaison in the U.S., was ordained a priest at Good Shepherd and the parish still supports her missionary work.

The dolls came from other Episcopal congregations, Stanley said. Eighty-five dolls, known as duduza (comfort) dolls, were donated to Stanley by Jane King, a member of St. Philip's Church in New Hope, Pennsylvania, who organized a doll-making effort among her family and friends there and elsewhere, Stanley said.

On the other side of the country, Sue Clary, of St. Luke's Episcopal Parish in Sequim, Washington, sent Stanley many of another version of the handmade comfort dolls.

Serena Beeks, executive director of the Diocese of Los Angeles's (http:www.ladiocese.org) Commission on Schools, took some of the dolls with her as she and a small group of Episcopalians involved in school partnerships in Haiti headed there on March 27 for Holy Week.

Stanley told ENS that she was grateful for the donations, which she brought with her when she returned to Port-au-Prince for Holy Week and Easter Week.

"You don't have to have a million dollars" to help people in Haiti, Stanley said. Sending "the love, the intimate little pieces" that help Haitians know they are not forgotten is important, she said.

In addition, the Episcopal Church Women and others at St. Paul's Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, gave Stanley basic medical supplies to take with her.

A delivery of pickup trucks to Haiti, with love from Virginia Episcopalians

Virginia's truck campaign began when Katie Mears, Episcopal Relief & Development's program manager for USA disaster preparedness and response, contacted the Diocese of Virginia to ask for a repeat performance of a truck campaign it staged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Remote areas of Haiti can be reached only by way of very rough roads, Episcopal Relief & Development told the diocese, according to a Virginia news release.

At the time, Episcopal Relief & Development was paying $400 per day for truck rentals, and supply and demand caused the price of trucks in the nearby Dominican Republic to skyrocket. Purchasing the vehicles in the U.S was a more reasonable alternative. Virginia Bishop Shannon S. Johnston asked the diocese to raise $175,000 to buy eight trucks.

Less than two months later, churches and individuals in Virginia have helped raise $192,854. Substantial donations also came from the Community Foundation in Richmond and individuals outside the diocese. Episcopal Relief & Development now has six trucks to help deliver relief supplies, with four more en route. Those trucks are expected to be delivered to Haiti within the next week.

"This is a long-term gift – not just a Band-Aid" said the Rev. Buck Aiken, assistant rector at St. Mark's Church in Richmond and coordinator of the effort.

"From the moment news of the earthquake arrived, there's been a massive surge of energy in the Diocese of Virginia to respond to the crisis in Haiti," said Bishop Johnston. "The Trucks for Haiti campaign was the perfect outlet to focus these energies. Our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Haiti continue to be faced with pain, suffering and loss. It is our Christian duty and our privilege to be able to offer assistance to them, now and in the years to come."

Stanley told ENS that people who wish to make material donations to quake survivors through her can email to her at merelaurens@gmail.com.

Truck campaign contributions, payable to the Diocese of Virginia with "Haiti Truck Relief" in the memo line, may be sent to 110 West Franklin Street, Richmond VA 23220. The diocese also continues to collect funds for Episcopal Relief & Development in general and to assist Stanley both in Haiti and during her time in the U.S. Duracin has asked her to help coordinate relief and recovery efforts, and to tell the diocese's story.

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is a national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service and Episcopal News Monthly editor. Diocese of Virginia Communications Officer Emily Cherry contributed to this story.