Friends and members of Disciples of Christ-Visalia:
Tuesday afternoon Port Au Prince, Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake that is so immense that I am not sure we can grasp the damage it has done. 100,000 people have possibly died. That would be like the city of Visalia being eradicated. Port Au Prince had two firestations and three trash trucks to service a town of 3 million people. Everybody in Port will be touched by death by family or acquaintance. The whole city which had little infrastructure to begin will have to be rebuilt. And we want to know what we can do.
I am encouraging you to give to www.weekofcompassion.org or www.churchworldservice.org. I know people in both organizations and they do good work. They will provide immediate assistance and will help in the rebuild. Your money will go a long ways and to the right people.
The next issue is that they need hygiene kits and the warehouse that has these kits was emptied on the initial movement to Haiti. I expect that they will need more kits for Haiti, because the challenges and recovery will be that difficult. We need to build more of these hygiene kits for the people of Haiti and for the next crisis. It is a pay it forward initiative. We need the following items for the kits. This is something we can do now that will help.
We have four ways of participating in this effort.
1.) Create your own hygiene kit at home.
2.) Get hygiene kit supplies. (items listed below) You may have towels at home and trip to the dollar store can get most of the items. Big need hand towels. They cost $2.00 a piece. Ask neighbors and friends if they have some.
3.) Donate money to get supplies
4.) Participate in the assembling of the kits. We start Sunday after church.
From the CWS website.
In the face of natural disasters, violence, or grinding poverty, Hygiene Kits can mean the difference between sickness and health for struggling families.
To assemble a Hygiene Kit you will need:
One hand towel measuring approximately 16" x 28" (no fingertip or bath towels)
One washcloth
One wide-tooth comb
One nail clipper (no metal files or
emery boards)
One bar of soap (bath size in wrapper)
One toothbrush (in original packaging)
Six Band-Aids®
Please do not add toothpaste to the Hygiene Kit. Toothpaste that has an extended expiration date will be added to Hygiene Kit shipments just prior to shipment. Seal all items in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure.
Thank you and continue to pray for the people of Haiti.
Fearless Joy,
Guido Niel Climer
