Stewardship Minutes

Cheryl Riordan

Ministry Minute – Haiti Committee

Good Morning. My name is Cheryl Riordan and for Haiti Solidarity Week, I would like to speak to you about the Haiti Twinning Committee.

My son, Sean, and I joined the committee when he was about 12 years old. He was wandering through the tables on ministry weekend, while I was manning another table and he met Nicole Karlins and Mercy Kelley at the Haiti table. After speaking with them for a little while he came back to me, excited about it and said, “Mom, this is a good cause. Why aren’t we already on that committee?” Having no real answer to that, we joined.

In the past several years of being a part of the Haiti Twinning Committee, we have gained an understanding for the situation of the people of Haiti, we have come to appreciate the things we have taken for granted for most of our lives here, and we have made some wonderful friends on the committee. It has been a pleasure to get to know Father Leveque, and to be a part of the work that St. Nicholas parish does for the people of St. Anne’s parish in Maissade. In the few years that we have been involved in the committee, St. Nicholas has provided for a PA system for their church, we have helped them acquire land on which they have built a high school, we have sent them medical supplies and band instruments, we have helped Father Leveque get a much needed vehicle to help serve his parish needs. This vehicle also serves as the ambulance to get the sick to the hospital. We have also raised money to pay for scholarships to help the children attend school. A number of people from St. Nicholas parish have even made the trip down to visit St. Anne’s.

St. Nicholas can be proud of all of the work we have done for St. Anne’s parish in the past. However, there is still much work to be done. The Haiti Twinning Committee is proud to facilitate these efforts on behalf of St. Nicholas parish. We are always happy to receive new members to assist in these efforts. If you are interested in more information on Haiti and/or our Twinning Committee, please feel free to stop at the Haiti display table in the commons on your way out today and we will do our best to answer any questions.

Thank you.