25453: Wharram - news - Local pastor plans to send aid to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> From Bruce Wharram <bruce.wharram@sev.org>



Local pastor plans to send aid to Haiti

By Ben Andersen
Staff writer

     After returning from a fact-finding trip to Haiti in May, Pastor Gloria
Cherry of the Healing Wings Christian Center, Dover, knew she had to do
something to help the country?s starving people.

     So, along with program director Benjamin Brown, Cherry started Aid to
Haiti, a drive to provide food to the most desperate Haitians and eventually
make the country self-sufficient through farming.

     Some steps already taken include contacting Haitian and U.S. officials,
including Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., securing a distribution center in the
country and securing a shipment of food and other goods for the country.

     The goal is to supply enough food to feed the most deprived until a
shipment of necessary equipment can be sent over to help build farms.

     ?They have the land, what they need now is the farming equipment,?
Cherry said.

      The ambitious plan hopes to provide wells around Port Au Prince, the
countries largest city, to provide fresh drinking water and eventually
create self-sufficient family farms.

     Brown said it is important to look out for the children, the most
vulnerable members of society.

     ?We?ve got a plan developed to focus our energy on feeding the
children,? he said.

     The group is currently looking for corporate partners as well as
individual donors, Cherry said.

     Rice and red beans are most needed, but non-perishable food, monetary
donations and other useful items such as toys for children and fishing poles
are being accepted.

     To donate to Aid for Haiti, call Pastor Gloria Cherry at 678-3497.

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