Charity Event & Silent Auction Raises $57,000 to Create Jobs in Haiti

Healing Haiti’s 4th Annual Charity Event & Golf Tournament could not have been on a better day of sunny skies and gorgeous weather.  On August 5th at Keller Golf Club in Maplewood, over 150 guests joined us for golf, music, good food, auctions and lots of laughs, while holding Healing Haiti’s Bakery & Job Creation Initiative close to their hearts as the reason for this event.  

All of our golfers had lots of fun playing the newly reopened Keller Golf Course, and there was plenty of competitive bidding taking place on over 100 items in the silent auction, while live music from the one and only Steve Duede played in the background.  During dinner, we enjoyed the program featuring a recap of the impact the 2013 event had on Grace Medical & Dental Clinic, a live auction, and a video casting the vision for this year’s initiative, the Grace Bakery & Job Creation Initiative.

The Grace Bakery and Job Creation initiative capitalizes on the opportunity to give HOPE through stable employment for Haitian moms and dads in Titanyen, Haiti.  Many Haitian parents are faced with the daily struggle of finding an income in an economy with 70% unemployment.  The lack of income forces many hardships on a family, including lack of food and essential nutrients that are critical to the wellness of their children.  Because of parents' inability to provide for their children, they are faced with the heartbreaking decision of whether to watch their children go hungry, or give them up to an orphanage, another relative or even a stranger that promises to take better care of the children.  Parents are very aware of the fact that it is not uncommon for this situation to lead to child slavery, where children is gravely mistreated and could be scarred for life.

Grace Bakery will create 50 sustainable jobs to parents such as these.  A stable income will give parents the ability to keep their children, provide for them, and see them thrive throughout their childhood.  We are very aware that women are often the sole provider for a family, as many fathers desert their family for any number of reasons.  History has shown that mothers are more likely to invest their income in their family, and also their community.  Because of this reality, we plan to provide many of these jobs to women.  The hope for a better tomorrow can become a reality to many families in Tiatnyen, one of the poorest villages in Haiti.

We are thrilled with the success of this year’s Charity Event & Golf Tournament.  $57,000 was raised and will help the launch of this bakery, which will be built just outside Grace Village, right next to the new Grace Church.

THANK YOU to all of this years’ participants, Corporate Sponsors, golfers, and dinner guests and donors to the auction.  We also could not have done this without the help of our incredible volunteers.  All of your support is critical to the success of this initiative!  We know that God is going to do great things through this initiative—even greater than we can imagine.

If you are interested in supporting this initiative, click here to learn more and donate.