Once again the mission group HEARTS (Haitians Educated and Ready to Serve) is hosting a 5km run/walk on Oct. 17, starting and finishing at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on St. George Street in Fergus.
Since its inception in 2003, the event has raised more than $120,000 in support of an orphanage and four schools located in the Cap Haitien area of north Haiti.
The run/walk begins at 9:30am with registration from 8 to 9am. Registration/pledge forms are available at St. Andrew’s or by calling 519-843-3565 or online at www.standrewsfergus.org.
Registration is $25 or free with $50 in pledges. For kids under the age of 15 registration is $12 or free with $25 in pledges.
The orphanage, Stella House, currently has 30 residents (boys and girls) who would be at risk if they were to live on the streets as so many children do in Haiti.
At Stella House they live in a safe environment, supervised by caregivers, attend school by day, and play, study, and enjoy a life that would otherwise by unattainable.
The four schools have more than 1,000 students attending from junior kindergarten through grade six.
In Haiti school is mandatory for all children under the age of 16, but it is a law that is largely unenforceable.
Fifty per cent of all Haitian children never see the inside of a classroom and those that do, seldom attend for more than three or four years.
If all the children who should be in school actually did attend there would not be enough schools, teachers or desks to accommodate all of them.
That is why the four schools that HEARTS supports are so very important to the community in a country of over nine million people where 50% of the population is under the age of 16.
Every school is considered as something very special. Without them many of these 1,000 children would go through life without hope and without a future.
Area residents are encouraged to become a part of this mission to the children of Haiti. Organizers welcome their participation in “The Race for the Children of Haiti” on Oct. 17.
