Date: 2010-03-28
Douvan Jou pou Haiti: A Fundraiser to Benefit the Earthtquake Victims of Haiti
The Plymouth Church of Framingham, UCC joins the Eritaj Foundation, the Haitian Seventh Day Adventist Group and many other area churches and Haitian community leaders in a fundraising event, Douvan Jou pou Haiti, to aid the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. The event will be held on Sunday, March 28th at the Plymouth Church, 87 Edgell Road, Framingham starting at 4:00 p.m. The community is invited to celebrate Haiti’s culture and its people with a concert featuring Haitian musicians and performers, as well as music from choirs of local area churches. Following the concert, there will be a reception featuring a variety of authentic Haitian foods and appetizers. There will also be artwork from Haitian artists and Haitian crafts available for purchase. Dick Clarke, member of the Plymouth Church in Framingham, UCC, says “This is a cultural exchange. We want to show the beauty of Haiti, its people and its culture. Yes, there is poverty and yes, there is desperation. But this is a country whose people have a genuine enjoyment of life and of each other.” The free-will offering collected during the concert will go towards the earthquake relief efforts of the Eritaj Foundation, which works with the Association of Evangelical Leaders for the Development of Haiti to provide funds to local area churches who use it to aid those in need; Church World Service, which has the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and helps continued emergency relief efforts as well as facilitates the immigration process for Haitians living in the United States; and the Haitian Seventh Day Adventist Group, which works with the St. Jean Bosco Organization in Port au Prince and the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Merger to provide direct aid to those in need. Mirlande Butler, Director of the Eritaj Foundation, states “Such effort by the Plymouth Church to help Haiti by enlisting Haitian leadership is comprehensive and effective because it takes into account the views of the people in crisis and could reduce the inefficiencies of bureaucracy, allowing aid to be distributed more swiftly and efficiently”. More information about the Eritaj Foundation can be found online at www.eritajfoundation.org and information about Church World Service can be found at www.churchworldservice.org