Despite several delays, as is expected in Haiti and even more so with the ongoing unrest still a daily occurrence there, we were able to distribute the Christmas Food Packages to our students and their families and members of the three communities that we support in early February. The smiles seen in the photos below speak louder than words, expressing the joy and gratitude for what so many of us take for granted, the ability to put food on the table for ourselves and our family.
A few years ago when inflation started rising at drastic rates, resulting in soaring food costs, we started receiving requests for food instead of Christmas gifts, like we would normally raise funds for and distribute. It was a sad reality that we readily chose to honor and so we started seeking donations to provide Food Packages instead of traditional Christmas gifts during the holiday season.
This now annual Season of Giving project lights up the faces and fills the hearts of those that we support with soooo much appreciation, love, joy and gratitude. This can be a challenging concept for some of us to fully understand, especially in North America and other more developed countries where the focus is often on the material, and where the necessities of life, such as an ample and affordable food supply, are pretty much a given. Yet the joy that a package of food provides to those in Haiti, as it is given in the name of love, is evidence of God's intent for all, that of being heart-centered and appreciative of and for life through feelings of caring for others rather than from the material world and all of its trappings.
Everyone that we support in Haiti was so appreciative of the Christmas Food Packages. In the video above, Marie Denise Destra, the mother of a few of our students, expresses her gratitude for all of the food that she received and the impact it had on her and her family.
Moving forward we will continue to provide Food Packages at Christmas until the time comes that doing so will no longer be desperately necessary. It will be wonderful when that time comes, not because we will then be able to return to providing material gifts, which will certainly be a blessing to once again be able to do, but because it will mean that the situation in Haiti has returned to a more stable and less desperate time.
Thank you sooooo much to everyone who supported this project, whether financially, spiritually, through prayer or by following our work ... we appreciate it so much more than words can express. YOU are truly changing lives in Haiti and for that we, and everyone that we support in Haiti, are so very grateful.
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