Study your Funk and Wagnall’s, gang.   It’s trivia time again!

Yes, our 3rd Annual Trivia Game and Silent Auction is coming up fast.  It will be held on Friday, March 30, 2012 at 7:30 PM*.  To accommodate the expected larger crowds, we are moving to a more spacious facility.  The fun will be at the Lowell Elks, 40 Old Ferry Rd, Lowell, MA.

Last year, we had to stop selling tickets when we hit 100 because space was limited.  Folks had so much fun last year, we expect them all to come back… and bring friends.  We’re aiming for 150 this year but we’re bound to sell out again! To see how exciting last year’s event was, visit this page.

To offset the cost of renting the new space (and to get more help for our Haitian friends) we are increasing the cost of tickets to $15.  We do not apologize for this increase.  The need is too great.  Besides, last year some people actually complained because they thought the cost was too low!

In 2011, the money went toward the construction of homes for Haitians that were still living in tents.  (Families are living in those homes today.)  This year, the proceeds will go toward our business development program, Biznis Pam.  With this money, Haitian entrepreneurs will be able to learn how to start and maintain a new business.  Then their efforts will be funded and supported by Servants for Haiti.  This is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

You can start ordering tickets today – $15 each or a table for eight for $120.  Just go to our ticket purchasing page.  We suggest you buy tickets early and often.  It’s likely to be a sellout again this year.  Tickets will be available at the door only in the unlikely event that we are not sold out. Best to get yours soon.

Then there’s the silent auction. We’ll have another terrific selection of items this year, including dining gift certificates, hotel stays, sports memorabilia and tickets, videos, books, arts and crafts, Haitian products, and more.  Bid, Bid, Bid! More specific details will be added to this page as they become available, including auction items and more.  Check back often!

A full cash bar will be open during the evening.  Free snacks will also be available.  To maximize your fun, bring snacks (or even a meal!) for your whole table.  Last year, everyone else looked on in envy as one table brought a pizza dinner!

We will update this page if and when more info is available.  Meanwhile, feel free to write to trivia@servantsforhaiti.org if you have any questions about the event.

Click here to buy tickets

Still trying to decide whether to go to trivia night this year?  Here are the Top Ten Reasons to go:

10. So you don’t have to spend a year being envious listening to your friends brag about how much fun they had.

9. The silent auction could offer a gift basket from Lowell Five.

8. To show off your breadth of knowledge of the courting customs of 16th century Lapland and other important trivia.

7. To meet and get autographs from actual SFH board members.

6. Mitt Romney may show up to demonstrate that he really does care about the poor.

5. Any chance to get inside the Lowell Elks is worth the effort.

4. To find out how much you don’t know.

3. To bid on football autographed by member of Super Bowl Champion Patriots.

2. Three words: Sully’s Ice Cream.

…and the number one reason to attend Trivia Night 2012…

1. It’s a wicked lot of fun!

This is the place to buy tickets for Trivia Night

To purchase tickets to Trivia Night 2012:

1. From the pull down menu below, choose the number of tickets you want to buy
2. Click on the “Buy Now” button
3. Step through the PayPal process

It’s that simple.  If you still have questions or problems, you can always write to us at trivia@servantsforhaiti.org.

Alternatively, you can send us a check at the address shown on the Donate Now page.  If you know someone on the board of SFH, you can give any of us cash or a check.  Online purchases are recorded on our attendees list.  Give us your name at the door and you’re in.  For people who want physical tickets, some will be available as needed.

Choose number of tickets

1 $15.00 USD 2 $30.00 USD 3 $45.00 USD 4 $60.00 USD 5 $75.00 USD 6 $90.00 USD 7 $105.00 USD One table (8 tix) $120.00 USD

If you buy more tickets than you plan to use, please let us know so that we can release tickets you don’t need.  We want as many people as possible to attend.  You can make a note of this fact in the PayPal message field.

NOTE: Your ticket purchase is tax-deductible.

It doesn’t seem possible that it has already been two years since the earthquake that shook the literal and virtual foundations of Haiti.  If you lived in a tent under constant threat of violence, disease, and the elements, it would feel like an eternity.

Servants for Haiti isn’t looking at the years but the lives.  With your support, we have educated more students, helped more hopeful entrepreneurs, and housed families.  For those folks, two years ago seems a lifetime away.

Stay with us as we look forward to more changed lives and a better Haiti.

God bless you for your support.

SFH wants to wipe the tears away. You can help.

"Isn't it great helping Haiti, honey?"

Here’s your chance to combine two of your passions: Shopping and Haiti.  Two different fund-raisers are running concurrently where you buy stuff and SFH gets some money:

Check out this Wildtree fundraiser You’ll find lots of natural options for helping to provide your family with easy, healthy, all-natural meal options.  Lots of gluten-free options as well.  Share shipping with a friend to help cut your costs.  20%  of all proceeds from this sale will go to Servants For Haiti’s new business program, Biznis Pam.

Also, a part of all proceeds made from any Wildtree parties  booked though this fundraiser will be donated back to SFH.

Go to this site then click on the My Events button on the left side of the page.  For the event called “Servants For Haiti Fundraiser”, click on the “Shop Now” link.  This fundraiser will run through January 30, 2012.

And this Tupperware fundraiser This is just what you’ll need to store all those new herbs and spices that you bought from Wildtree!  Tupperware donates 40% of all proceeds to SFH from now through the end of January 2012.  Click here to go right to the SFH fundraiser page.

Your order for trivia tickets has been processed successfully!

Your purchase has been recorded.  Just check-in on entrance to the trivia game.

We look forward to seeing you on March 30.

Don’t forget to bring your checkbook to buy awesome silent auction items.

Return to Trivia Page

Return to SFH home page

The first group of students in our Biznis Pam program have graduated and we couldn’t be more excited. Here’s the proud class and their teacher, Monite (far right).

The five students  gave uniformly positive evaluations of their learning experience.  Some of their feedback included the following comments:

• Thanks to this training I know and understand what business is.  Thanks a ton, Biznis Pam.  Because of you and your help my dream will come true.
• I love all days of the training.  Now I am ready to create and manage a business. I learned a lot of things from the interactions between us.
• Now I know more about business.  I know how to reach as many customers as possible. Thanks a lot to the teachers.
• Thanks a lot for this training.  Now I will apply these principles in my business.
• I learned a lot that will help me in my business.  Thanks a lot to the teachers who were very kind to teach me those things.
• I hope that Biznis Pam choose more people for the training next time.

With your help, we will be able to fulfill that last wish.  We plan to have more classes and increase the size over time, but it will take funding.  Visit our online donation page to make it happen.

The next step for our budding entrepreneurs will be to implement the business plans that they developed in class using funds that SFH will supply.  Return to these pages to read about their progress.

Watch this video to see our first home building team in November 2011 create a home for a Haitian family.

Creating a home in Haiti

Make a difference for one Haitian family.  If you want to be part of the next home building team, visit our trips page and find one that fits your schedule.

An SFH team and a family with a new home.

Are you wondering what these houses are that Servants for Haiti is now funding and helping to construct?  Here are the details.

SFH is working with ASAM Ministries to build “temporary” homes for homeless Haitian families.  Unfortunately, temporary may become permanent unless economic conditions in Haiti improve drastically.  (SFH is working to make that happen, too.)  Fortunately, these homes will serve a critical function as they are.

Here are some of the features of the homes we are building:

1. They have locks. As mundane as that may seem, it’s the difference between safety and vulnerability to Haitian families.  The tent cities, which is where most of the families will move from to occupy these houses, are under the constant threat of violence from local criminals.  The incidence of rape and assault, as well as non-violent crimes such as theft, are out of control in the anarchic tent villages.  A lock is just enough protection to protect most families.
2. They are strong. Unlike a makeshift tent, these structures are built to withstand the rain and high winds that are common to the island nation.
   

   Rain collection system is a lifesaver.

3. The have cement floors. In the tents, families were forced to sleep in mud during and after rainstorms.  Plus, the water that came streaming through those tents is often contaminated with waste materials.
4. A rainwater collection system is built into the roof. In a nation where potable water is not available to most families, clean drinking water can save a child or an entire family from waterborne diseases such as cholera.  As of this writing, Haiti is experiencing the worst cholera epidemic in modern history.  Even before the epidemic, water-borne diseases accounted for more than half the deaths in Haiti.
5. These homes belong to the families. Home ownership is a dream for most Haitians.  Thus, providing a home, albeit temporary, is a major boost to a family’s sense of well-being and security.
6. Construction employs Haitian workers. Except for the tiny percentage of Americans who travel to assist in the building effort (including those who travel under the auspices of SFH), labor is provided by local workers.  Everyone wins.

If you want to watch a home being built, visit this page for a short video.

Monite Métélus-Louis is SFH’s “person on the ground” in Haiti.  She administers our micro-loan program, including training future business people who will be the recipients of those loans.  We describe her new enterprise, Biznis Pam, in another post.

She’s such a prize, however, we’d love you to get to know her.  Recently, SFH president Laurae Richards interviewed Monite.  Here’s one excerpt.

Click the picture to meet Monite

Come back later for more clips from this interview.

(We apologize for the sound quality.  Haiti can be a noisy place!)