Raising Much Needed Cash for Haiti
Phew!
Have you ever organized a silent auction? I used to love helping to organize them with the annual gala held by the Assaulted Women’s Helpline, but it’s been a few years since I worked with them and I officially forgot how much work an auction can be!
I’m exhausted, but so happy and thrilled to say that Health Nexus has just held its first silent auction and potluck to raise much-needed money for survivors of the Haitian earthquake.
Melanie and Rose, all smiles after the money started rolling in!
At Health Nexus, we’re lucky to have students come in for their placements when they’re studying public health, social services, etc. Rose Cambronne is one of our current students.
Rose has a personal connection to Haiti, as she just moved to Canada four years ago. Her husband Ralph still lives in Haiti.
In 2006, Rose came to Canada for safety reasons. Her family had a house on the outskirts of Port Au Prince, where violent home invasions were the norm. Rose is the mother to a young child, Sebastian. She wanted to bring him to safer place, having lived through three home invasions while she lived in Haiti.
Shortly after she left, her family had the worst experience yet. People broke into her home through the wall and beat her husband and father-in-law. Her father-in-law was beaten so badly that he later succumbed to his injuries and passed away. The maid servant who lived in the house was brutally raped.
Today, it’s clear that Rose is trying to build a better life for her family here. Her husband remains near Port au Prince, along with other family members. Ralph is currently staying in a parking lot, and doesn’t want to answer Rose’s questions about whether he has food or water. Basically, it sounds as though he is just surviving.
Our silent auction took place both in person and via the magical world of the Internet
Staff at Health Nexus, like most Canadians, are moved to do something to help Haitian survivors. That’s why we decided to organize ourselves and host our very own silent auction today. I’m so pleased to see that we have raised over $500 so far, with more coming in. We organized the silent auction very quickly, so I’m really happy with this amount. I expect more donations to come in next week when I meet up with my Best Start team in Markham for our annual Best Start conference.
On Monday, February 22, we’ll present Rose with the final tally. She can spend the donations in whichever way she feels will best help her family in Haiti.
It is an honour to be able to organize something like this for someone who is close to us. I know that most of us are really grateful to have Rose share her strength and spirit with us.
If you’re a concerned Canadian wishing to donate to Haiti, I just want to encourage and remind you to do so by tomorrow, Friday, February 12. The Canadian government is matching our donations dollar for dollar, but only until tomorrow. For more information about this matching program, you can visit CIDA’s press release here.
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Sadly, remote staff were unable to take part in our delicious feast!
Thanks to all the staff at both Health Nexus and the Ontario Women’s Health Network (who share an office with us) for donating items for the auction, bringing food for the wonderful feast, and most importantly, buying the items! Also thanks to our remote staff who managed to take part in our online auction through the magic of the Internet. One more kudos to local photographer Katie Bateman for donating a gift certificate to us even though she doesn’t work here. 
February 12th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Melanie this is great work. really proud of all you’re doing in building community through the health service sector! too bad I missed the food too!!