North Shore Packathon celebrates our 5th year of packing food for children in Haiti!!!
On October 20 and 21, we're going to pack 50,000 school lunches for the children of St. Louis d'Ayiti.
HAITI NEEDS OUR HELP!
Gang violence has increased by 28% in the first quarter of 2023. In 2022, the UN reported gang violence overall reached levels not seen in decades.This violence has caused at least 165,000 Haitians to flee their homes, mostly to temporary shelters. As many as 750,000 people require food aid as the country experiences famine. The United Nations World Food Program reduced its programs in the country last month, citing budgetary limits. Those cuts took away aid from about 100,000 people. Nearly five million Haitians don't have enough food and humanitarian aid (The Hill, 8/8/2023).
In addition, our food delivery has been compromised due to the gang violence at the port and in customs. Our last delivery was successfully distributed in April, and there are two containers close to being released in the next few weeks.
HAITI NEEDS OUR HOPE!
In February, 2023 the Future Forward board sent monies to help the mountain communities buy food over the border in the Dominican Republic.
Our Haitian partners report that the school at St. Louis d'Ayiti has been open and attended by the children even when there is no food. The fact that our commuity is isolated in the eastern mountains has been a saving grace from the violence. No one can get to them or has any interest. Our packed food has a shelf life of two years, so what we packed in 2022 is still good. When asked if we should pack this year the response from Haiti is a resounding YES. Your faithfulness to us is our hope. Therefore, we will not give up! We will pack because our Haitian friends believe that the violence will end and hope will be victorious.
LET'S GOOOOO!!!
Our four packing sessions this year are:
Friday, October 20: 3pm - 5pm and 6pm - 8pm
Saturday, October 21: 9am - 11am and 12pm - 2pm
We will be packing indoors at the parish hall of Christ Church, 149 Asbury St., S. Hamilton, MA 01982. Masks are optional.
Packing is a free event, but we ask you to DONATE NOW to help pay for the food ingredients and to provide workbooks for the 200 children for the 2023-2024 school year.