Friends for Haitian Relief event Aug. 13 in Wooster
The Friends for Haitian Relief organization will hold its second annual fundraising dinner and silent auction on Tuesday, Aug. 13 from 5-7 p.m. at Grace Church in Wooster. The cost is by donation only, with every dollar raised benefiting Aunt Lucie’s mission, which is to help as many underserved and undernourished Haitian children as possible.
For the second year in a row, the community has the opportunity to have a hand in helping educate and feed many of the poorest children in the world, just by eating dinner prepared by somebody else.
Sounds simple enough, right? That’s exactly what the Friends for Haitian Relief organization is hoping the community thinks when it presents its second annual fundraising dinner and silent auction on Tuesday, Aug. 13 from 5-7 p.m. at Grace Church in Wooster. Carryout meals also will be available. The cost is by donation only, with every dollar raised benefiting Aunt Lucie’s mission, which is to help as many underserved and undernourished Haitian children as possible.
Friends for Haitian Relief President Linda Geiser, a longtime Haiti mission trip participant, first met Lucie through a friend of hers in 2015 who confided in the Wayne County resident that her aunt needed help.
“The (mission) team met with Lucie’s niece, and we learned Lucie is a single, 70-year-old woman with a deep heart of compassion for the Haitian children,” Geiser said. “She showed us pictures of 10 children who Lucie had rescued because they were at risk for various reasons. She brought them into her home and was caring for them as her own.”
It didn’t take long after that first trip of Geiser and her fellow mission workers helping Aunt Lucie that she knew she needed to do more for the needs of the household known as Welcoming House and the school Lucie had attached to her home, where she worked with 90 students each day, called Ecole Aurore Du Savoir.
Lucie’s school grew, and for the 2022-23 school year, she had 127 students, 19 teachers and not enough money to pay the teachers. She needed help fast, or she would be forced to close the school. That’s when Geiser spoke to former Faithful Little Cupcake owner Rayonna Miller about putting on a fundraiser to help Lucie and the children in Haiti, and together, the pair put the wheels in motion to hold last year’s first dinner to raise money for the school.
“I certainly had some fears about taking something like this on, but with God’s prompting and Rayonna’s offer to help, we were all in,” Geiser said. “Many donors heard about Lucie’s needs and came to the event. Because of their generosity, the Friends group was able to help her pay the teachers, make needed repairs to the school, purchase supplies and provide food for her household. This event gave Lucie the needed funds to get through the 2023-24 school year.”
This spring Geiser said the Friends group began visiting local businesses, asking for their sponsorship toward the Haiti mission for the 2024-25 school year, and received an overwhelmingly positive response.
“It has been incredibly heartwarming. We received more than enough to cover the event,” Geiser said. “It was about this time Lucie told me many of the children were malnourished and were unable to focus on their education. The extra funds our business sponsors donated enabled us to begin a school lunch program three days a week (that lasted) through July 15 when the school year ended.”
In addition to the meal, new this year will be an opportunity to sponsor a child whose parents cannot provide the needed funds to send them to school.
“Lucie is providing pictures of the children that are affected the most by poverty. A child sponsorship table with pictures and information will be available for those who wish to sponsor a child. The buffet will end at 7 p.m., when there will be a brief presentation explaining the crisis in Haiti, showing pictures of Lucie’s home school. There will be a period of time set aside for questions and answers,” Geiser said.
Several items have been donated for the silent auction including a self-propelled lawn mower, a cooler of meat, several gift certificates, gift baskets and many more items. Geiser said donations for the silent auction are still needed and most welcome. Email geiserlinda@gmail.com for specific instructions.
The menu for the fundraiser will be a haystack dinner including rice, beans, meat sauce, lettuce and many other toppings. Guests will proceed through a buffet line, and carryout orders will begin at 4:30 p.m. No preregistration is required.
For more information on the Friends for Haitian Relief, visit its Facebook page or www.ff-hr.us.