Joy and Hope of Haiti

See article below about the work of "Joy and Hope of Haiti".
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Hands and hearts help Haiti; Volunteers make things -- and help make things better
Suzanne Bourret
The Hamilton Spectator
499 words
29 May 2008
The Hamilton Spectator
Final
G04
English
Copyright (c) 2008 The Hamilton Spectator.
Tables are being set this morning for the sellout crowd attending tonight's annual Joy and Hope of Haiti auction at Carmen's Banquet Centre.
Florence Couture, auction chair, says it's sold out for the first time since it started 12 years ago and that there is a waiting list.
Florence attributes the 15 per cent increase in ticket sales to Hamilton's increasing awareness of Haiti's needs. She says people are more willing to help the poorest country in the western hemisphere, where there is more than 80 per cent unemployment.
Meanwhile, volunteers are working hard to send aid, especially in light of increases in the cost of food.
Last month Joy and Hope volunteers assembled layettes for babies at Sew on Fire, a non-denominational ministry in Burlington that sews items for the needy.
Project co-ordinator Marci Schultz of Hamilton took two layettes to Cap Haitien last month. Next month, 500 baby layettes, as well as building and medical supplies, will be shipped to Cap Haitien.
Project overseer, Lena VanderHout of Flamborough, recruited volunteers from church groups and women's groups to knit and crochet baby blankets and sweater sets. They also made about 500 diapers using new and used flannel sheets.
It's part of the Birthing Kit project launched five years ago that has sent more than 100,000 kits to Haiti.
Volunteer Lea Jefferson of Ancaster says most pregnant women there lack access to quality medical care.
"The birthing kits cost less than 50 cents to make and help Haitian women to have a safe delivery," she says.
She adds that Hamilton and area has demonstrated it is a region with a big heart.
Think about this the next time you throw away a milk bag. Fran Milburn of Hamilton is using milk bags to make sleeping mats for children. "Many children sleep on dirt floors, and the mats act as a cushion," she says. "Apparently the bugs don't like the milk bags and don't come through the little holes."
It takes 200 to 250 outer milk bags to make one mat. About 1,800 mats are needed and Fran is looking for more volunteers to crochet the mats.
Fran points out the project keeps the bags from going to landfill sites.
The mats will be sent to orphanages and schools in northwest Haiti, and some already have been sent to Angola, China, Guatemala, Peru and Russia.
Call 905-389-3891 for information about donating milk bags and crocheting mats.
sbourret@thespec.com
905-526-3305