Sunday, October 4, 2015

"Run for Haiti"

As most of you know, our family has a HUGE heart for the people in Haiti.  James made a decision a few years ago to spend his first year out of high school serving at a preschool/orphanage that Brent had visited a year earlier.  From that point, Maranatha Children's Ministries has become something we talk about daily in our home.  Last year David told us that he wanted to do a "Run for Haiti" with his friends and got Sarah excited about the idea as well.  He came up with it completely on his own, and we have been thinking about how we might be able to make it happen since then.

As a senior at Valley Oaks Charter School, Jason has to take a class called Senior Seminar in which he has to write a research paper and do a project on the research that he is writing.  He decided to write on the importance of the English language for people in Haiti.  Because Maranatha has a preschool and English camp in the summer, which Jason had an opportunity to help with last year, it seemed we had a perfect opportunity to combine Jason's project with David's vision and Sarah's excitement.

So on November 7th we will be having a "Run for Haiti."  It will begin and end at our house with dinner afterward (nothing fancy . . . keeping it cheap so all the money we raise can go to Maranatha). We've mapped out a one mile circle inside of our neighborhood for running/walking.  The kids will be handing out flyers to their friends hopefully this week, but I thought I would provide some background for parents or other people interested.

The money will go to Maranatha and will be used for children who attend preschool and English Camp.  They have a sponsorship program.  As a family, we pay $50.00 per month to sponsor one child, who goes to preschool during the school year and English camp in the summer.  He is provided two meals a day during both programs.  For some kids this is the only good nourishment they receive.  Our hope is that the kids and their friends can raise enough money to sponsor one child for a year ($600.00).  If it is more, then that's even better.

Those who are interested in participating can ask friends or relatives to sponsor them.  Checks can be made directly to Maranatha (it is a nonprofit, so the money is tax deductible).  We will have plenty of adults and high schoolers for supervision during the walk/run, but we would love for this to be a family event and have lots of parents hang out, too.