Blind from Vitamin A Deficiency

Jennifer Schmidt found this young woman on her recent medical mission to Haiti.
The woman is blind from vitamin A deficiency. She has two young
children. Her blindness is irreversible...

Jim McDaniel: "At first this made me sad; then it made me angry; finally it made me more committed than ever to keep trying to make a difference."

Official Blog of Food For The Poor

What's it like right now in Haiti? Check out Bonnie Vanak's blog and Ben Rusnak's photos. Bonnie and Ben are with Food For The Poor. They have been working in Haiti and sharing their experiences.
http://officialfoodforthepoor.blogspot.com/

Stop Hunger Now Event

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church hosted a Stop Hunger Now Event on Feb. 19-20. Volunteers from Nativity Church along with volunteers from other organizations joined Prince of Peace to help in this effort. Side by side, about 700 volunteers packaged 142,560 specially formulated meals all bound for Haiti. We filled a full sea container. In the process, we all had a lot of fun! What a blessing to have so many people joining forces to help our Haitian brothers and sisters. We even had a family from Haiti who survived the earthquake and are now currently staying with relatives in the DC area present to help. Many thanks to all our Nativity volunteers and to Prince of Peace for hosting this very successful event.

--Cynde Mausolf

Packing Meals for Haiti

Meal packing for Haiti yesterday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church was AMAZING!! It was so awesome to see so many people, of all ages, working together to send healthy food to those that need it most. I was in the box packing room and packed 36 meals to a box. Each meal will feed 6 people. In an hour and a half, we packed 37,000 meals! Over 2 days, volunteers packed over 140,000 meals. You could just feel the LOVE going into each meal and each box!

--Jill

Three Foxes Vineyards Fundraiser for Haiti

Proprietors Holli and John Todhunter are hosting a benefit for Operation Starfish Haiti Earthquake Relief on Saturday, May 1, 2010, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Three Fox Vineyards in Delaplane, Virginia. Taste fine wines and picnic in this idyllic setting. The event will feature Chef Roland Mesnier, former White House Pastry Chef, who will present desserts popular with First Families. He will autograph his renowned cookbooks, and talk about his 25 years in the White House kitchen. Rev. Richard Martin, founder of Operation Starfish, and Jim McDaniel, representing Food For The Poor, Inc., will also be on hand. At about 3 p.m. Fr. Martin will officiate at the “Blessing of the Vines.” Proceeds from wine and book sales go to Operation Starfish to support the work of Food For The Poor, Inc. in Haiti. Food For The Poor is providing food, medical care, shelter and reconstruction assistance to earthquake victims.

The Dance of Haiti

"Two years ago when I was named chairperson for Project Starfish - Building a Village in Haiti at St. Joseph’s in Hope Valley I never dreamed where this journey would take me and the people of my parish family"...a commentary by Kiki Latimer in the Rhode Island Catholic.

http://www.thericatholic.com/detail.html?sub_id=2836

Returning Home to Rescue and Recover

This blog attempts to document the medical mission in the Pro Longe' area of Cap Haitien, Haiti, and track Jennifer Schmidt and others from Northern VA right now....what they are seeing, and what they are doing.

http://saintanthonysclinic.wordpress.com/

Haiti Changed Our Parish And My Life

An article in Catholic Digest about the transformation of a parish and their mission in Haiti, Operation Starfish.

http://www.catholicdigest.com/articles/good_works/love_your_neighbor/2010/01-29/haiti-changed-our-parishhellipand-my-life

Food For The Poor: One Month After Haiti Earthquake

passing along a 1-month update from Food For The Poor...

http://www.foodforthepoor.org/newsroom/news/food-for-the-poor-one-month.html

All Lynn University Students and Faculty accounted for

Jim McDaniel The remains of Britney Gengel, the last of the Lynn University students to be accounted for in the collapse of the Hotel Montana, have been recovered. 14 students and faculty were in Haiti on a Food For The Poor mission trip when the earthquake struck. 8 members of the group escaped the hotel and were returned to the US. Jan. 14th. 4 students and 2 faculty members died and all have now been accounted for. Please remember these beautiful people and their families in your prayers. Also remember Leann Chong, Food For The Poor's Mission Travel director, who continues to recovery from injuries suffered while she was trapped in the rubble of the Montana.

Photos from Haiti

Jim McDaniel invites you to reflect on the message in these photos...

Benjamin Rusnak
www.benjaminrusnak.com

SPIRIT DAY FOR HAITI Feb 14th

Jim McDaniel SUPPORT "SPIRIT DAY FOR HAITI" Sunday Feb. 14th from 2pm - 5pm at McDonalds 8976 Burke Lake Rd., Springfield, Virginia (King's Park). A portion of all sales go to Operation Starfish Haiti Relief. For info: Jesica Mera jcm@gwu.edu

Jim McDaniel Saludos:
No olvide que la actividad pro fondos "Spirit Day for Haiti" se realizara, este domingo 14 de febrero de 2:00 a 5:00pm en el restaurante McDonald's localizado en el 8976 Burke Lake Rd, Springfield, Virginia.
Actividad apoyada por "Starfish Mission".
Venga y unase a esta noble causa. (Jesica Mera jcm@gwu.edu)

Thank you

Jim McDaniel received a very nice gift today for Food For The Poor from St. Ann's School, Quincy, Massachusetts. Thank you Sr. Catherine, students and parents - your generosity will make a big difference in the lives of Haiti's earthquake victims.

Mission Friends travel to Haiti

Jim McDaniel asks that we keep our medical mission friends in our thoughts and prayers. Jennifer Schmidt, Bonnie DelBalzo, Patrice Nelson and a team from Northern Virginia are traveling on Valentine's Day to Cap Haitien, Haiti, where they will join Fr. Duken, Dr. Maklin, Dr. Kaplan and others as they provide medical care at the St.... Anthony Clinic in Nativity Village and at other nearby locations. Dr. Maklin says he's seeing a lot of gangrene from untreated earthquake wounds. Travel safely, good friends - God be with you as you become His hands and feet...

Container ships Feb. 10th

Jim McDaniel Food For The Poor advises that the ship with Nativity's sea container sails today for Haiti. Current ETA is 2 weeks. A second container will be coming to pick up the remaining relief supplies - Melinda or Katie will announce the load date as soon as available.

Blessing The Container

Father Martin blessing the cotainer before we closed the doors!

Sea Container Loading - Thank you for your help!

Melinda Wade Engelbrektsson: Katie and I are so grateful to all our friends who came out to help load the sea container this morning in the snow. Two hours on the nose to pack 40,000 lbs of emergency food, water, milk, diapers, medical supplies. Father Martin arrived in time to bless the container and off it went to Newark, New Jersey and then Haiti. Blessings to all and enjoy this weekend.

Jim McDaniel: What a great effort by Nativity parishioners and friends from all over! And thanks to Melinda, Katie, and all who organized this project. We also appreciate our corporate partners - Burke Lake Storage, Interstate Van Lines, and Food For the Poor. Congratulations on a job well done.

Soup Supper at St. Mary's

Fr. Gerry Creedon, Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo, and Jim McDaniel, Nativity parishioner and Food For The Poor representative, will talk about the Haiti earthquake and ways to respond to the needs of the victims.

Date: Friday, February 19, 2010
Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: St. Mary of Sorrows
Street: 5222 Sideburn Rd
City/Town: Fairfax, VA

View Map

Help Needed! Feb 5th

Help Needed! The 40' sea container will be delivered to Burke Lake Self Storage at Rte. 123 & the Fairfax County Parkway on Friday afternoon, Feb. 5. Loading is set for 2pm - 4pm. Come and help... For details, contact Melinda at swedes5@cox.net.

Feb. 20 fundraiser postponed due to snow

The Feb. 20 event with Chef Roland Mesnier at Three Fox Vineyards is being rescheduled. Winter weather has caused rescheduling of the past 2 weekends' wine events and this coming weekend forecast calls for snow again. So the Toddhunters will set a new date in early Spring for the earthquake benefit. As soon as that date is available, we'll announce it here.

Help Needed Loading Container Friday 2-4

We are loading the sea container Friday, February 5th from 2-4 at the storage facility in Burke, and will need many hands to 'lighten the load'. For more information, you can contact Melinda Engelbrektsson at swedes5@cox.net directly (phone: 703.690.9921). We will post more information as we get it.

23 tons, $43,000 of supplies for Haiti

Nativity Church's first sea container is ready to be loaded with 23 tons of emergency aid. We are awaiting delivery of the empty container by Food For The Poor. Estimated value of contents to be shipped to Haiti - $43,000. Congratulations to all who worked on this project!

Jordan Helps Haiti

Jordan is a special young lady. At 9 years old, she had saved money to buy a Washington Capitals jersey. When the earthquake hit, she changed her mind and gave the entire amount to Operation Starfish. She is now mounting a campaign to raise awareness about Haiti and to keep the needs of the poor foremost in her classmates' minds. Great job, Jordan!

Bonnie on the Earthquake and Hotel Montana

thanks Bonnie for expressing her thoughts about the Hotel Montana
http://bonnievanak.blogspot.com/2010/01/thoughts-on-haiti-and-hotel-montana.html

Hotel Montana on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/29/haiti.hotel.montana/index.html