January 17, 2010 Update from Hope Lennartz

We received a message from Fr. Sadoni Leon, Director the St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children. He said the conditions of the forty children at the former seminary at Montrouis were good -- they had water, tents, food that he could buy, and a fresh sea breeze. He has a vehicle and can get to Port-au-Prince as necessary. He also said the children were "homesick" for their "home" in Port-au-Prince.

You may be wondering about the other children. About half of them are with their parents.  Some of the children have returned to Les Cayes where Dirk Martin, a former volunteer at St. Vincent’s lives. 

Bishop Duriacin plans to re-build the Center. This will be a slow process since all the structures will have to be evaluated by engineers.

I would like to thank all our donors over this year and most recently after the earthquake. Many of our old friends have e-mailed their concerns and prayers.

I would like to especially thank the many children with their fund raising efforts. My heart is so lifted to see so many children reaching out to other children during this crisis...

I would also like to give a special thanks to

• Wiltsie Anderson from Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Indianapolis, Indiana. He organized a fundraiser for the care of the children at St. Vincent’s Center. We are so proud of young men like him responding to the needs of others a world away.  
• Suzanne Sayer’s Fifth Grade Girl School Troop 457 at Braeburn collected $260 from Coins for Haiti Project
• Montessori School of Greater Hartford 6^th level for baking and selling home-made dog treats as a fund raiser
• Sienne Nelson, a youth member of the Western Tennessee Haiti Partnership, organized a drive-by-fundraiser and managed to raise $2400 for St. Vincent’s Center
• Contordia Learning Center at St. Joseph’s School for the Blind collected personal items for the children 

Thanks to the following businesses, organizations, and schools:

Advanced Senior Support Home Health
Aetna Giving Campaign
Albert Einstein College Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Alcohol Drug Recovery Centers’ staff raised $1007 from a potluck lunch program
Barrett Family
Catholic Office of the Deaf, Chicago IL
Creative Family Solutions
Dallas-Haiti Project, Dallas, TX
EHGEMS parents and staff
Ford Family
Grace Hill Family and Friends
Helping Hands for the Blind, Chatsworth, Ca 
Limitless Vision Consulting
Lucy Read Family and Friends
MAC Town Inc., Miami, FL
Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted People
Paternoster Family
Perkins Brailler Company
Perkins School for the Blind and staff
Physicians for Peace, Norfolk, VA
Pritchard’s Bottle Shop
The Rotary Club of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

Thanks to the churches listed below:

Christ Church, Middle Haddam, CT
Church Home of Hartford, Bloomfield, CT
Church of Christ Congregational, Newington, CT
Northern Presbyterian Church, North Canton, OH
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Simsbury, CT
St. James Parish, Keene, NH
St. James’ Episcopal Church, Glastonbury, CT
St. James’s Episcopal Church, West Hartford, CT
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Niantic, CT
St. John’s Episcopal Church, North Guilford, CT
St. Mark’s Chapel, Storrs, CT
St. Peter’s-Trinity Episcopal Church, Thomaston, CT
St. Savior’s Episcopal Church, Old Greenwich, CT
St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Hanover, NH
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Hamilton, NY
Trinity Episcopal Church, Wethersfield, CT
Trinity Lutheran Church, Vernon, CT

Two new groups have joined our work:

Royal St. George’s College, Canada
St. Michael’s Parish Day School, Tucson, AZ

God Bless you all,

Hope Lennartz RN MSN
Founder of the Friends of St. Vincent’s Center