Saint Andrew the Apostle Parish, together with parishes throughout the Diocese and the country, will be taking a special collection to aid the people of Haiti who are suffering so greatly. Our funds will be given to the Catholic Relief Services who are coordinating the relief efforts in the ravaged country. We all mourns the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has already claimed thousands of lives including the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. It has destroyed countless homes, churches, seminaries, schools, and other buildings and has left millions without the most basic necessities of life. Our faith compels us to pray for and reach out to our brothers and sisters in their time of suffering.
I urge you to help the people and Church of Haiti this weekend, January 30-31, 2010. These funds will be used to support the efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, as they respond to immediate emergency needs for such necessities as water, food, shelter and medical care, as well as to the long term need to rebuild after widespread destruction, and to the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church in Haiti.
The Haitian people are over 80% Catholic. In solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the faith, we ask for generous support of efforts to provide emergency assistance and long-term rebuilding.
Catholic Relief Services is already mounting a major emergency response to this severe disaster and has committed an initial $5 million to fund relief efforts which are likely to go on for some time. Your help and the help of the Catholic people of the United States are urgently needed.
Your donations may be given directly to the parish (marked "Haiti" or "Earthquake"). Contributions may also be made via the link on the home page of the diocesan website, www.hbgdiocese.org, or on the website of Catholic Relief Services, www.crs.org.
Thank you for your goodness to the people of Haiti. Visit www.crs.org for information on what they are doing to help.
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