Parishioners at Nativity Catholic Church in Burke have donated $719,290 to Food For The Poor through its Operation Starfish fundraising campaign, making it the largest gift in the 27-year history of the partnership between the two organizations.
Msgr. Robert C. Cilinski, pastor, announced the donation June 27, saying it was rooted in the desire to help vulnerable children and families in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Thank you for being there in these troubled places among the poorest of the poor in our world and in the human family and lifting them up to a new dignity and a better way of living,” Msgr. Cilinski said. “We’re so privileged to partner with you, and today as you receive this gift, and I know you’re going to use it well.”
Food For The Poor President and CEO Ed Raine expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the donation and the church’s continued support of Haiti, particularly during this tumultuous time in its history.
“I’m totally in awe,” Raine said. “The fact that no one has given up on Haiti, and that we’re able to expand into other countries and ventures, I can only say ‘thank you.’ Obviously, we work hard to earn your trust to keep doing this, but this is a truly remarkable moment for us. Not only is this the largest gift that Nativity has given us, but I’m pretty sure it rates up there as one of the largest gifts we’ve ever received.”
Msgr. Cilinski, Nativity staff and parishioners participated in the announcement online from Nativity.
The parish’s donation to Food For The Poor will fund construction of Nativity’s 15th village in Haiti and other programs in Haiti, Honduras and Jamaica.
The new village at Bois-Louroux, in Haiti’s Nord-Est department, will provide families with two-bedroom, furnished homes, equipped with water, sanitation and solar powered streetlights. Residents in the area live in houses made of wood slabs covered in dried mud and survive off crops such as peanuts and cassava, supplemented by wood cuttings they use to make charcoal.
The donation also includes funds for health clinics for three communities in Honduras, San Juan, Guaimaca and Monteverde. The clinics in these locations are overcrowded with cracked walls, leaky roofs, broken windows and doors, faulty electrical systems and severe rodent infestation. The new clinics will include two exam rooms, an observation room, waiting room, pharmacy, four restrooms and a storage room.
Nativity’s Operation Starfish campaign was founded in 1998 by the late Father Richard Martin. That first year they raised more than $67,000 to build 27 homes in Haiti in collaboration with Food For The Poor. To date, Nativity parishioners and friends have made monetary donations of more than $9.8 million and provided $3 million in goods to care for children and families in need.
“I remember when Father Martin first began this adventure and enterprise of caring for the poor in Haiti,” Msgr. Cilinski said. “Little did I know that I would be doing that in his spirit and in his footsteps here at Nativity for the past 11 years. I’ve witnessed firsthand the generosity of the community of Nativity and how it has grown.”
