It's sometimes easy to forget that while we are a home for 45 children, as an organization we have hundreds of people relying on us for employment, clean and filtered drinking water, medicine, and more! Keeping our 19,000 square foot facility up and running is no simple task. We are so blessed with Gama Parayson at the helm of this daunting task. There are few men as patient and as collected as Gama. He makes the job look easy, even though we know it's anything but!
Along with these responsibilities comes the reality: "No money, no mission." While our Sponsor a Child Program brings us a substantial portion of our budget, it falls short of covering all of our costs at Be Like Brit. This is why you likely see Len and Cherylann crossing all over the country for speaking engagements, book signings, commencements, and more! This past week, thanks to our good friends Gus and Belinda (who so generously donated the nanotechnology water filtration system to Be Like Brit), Team Be Like Brit set off on fundraising efforts in South Carolina.
Originally scheduled for an afternoon flight on Tuesday, April 29, reports of anti-government protests in Port-au-Prince had Len, Gama and I in the Ford F-150 at 6am, in the hopes of avoiding any traffic or crowds of people taking to the streets in Port. While these protests can get somewhat chaotic, we know that foreigners are not targeted. Indeed, the purpose is to cause some sort of social disruption to catch the attention of the national government. The best way to do that is to shut down the roads to and from the capital city -- and so our decision to leave early and catch the morning flight out of Haiti was simply to avoid any potential issues that might have come up later in the day.
We were fortunate enough to get out of Port without incident - and without traffic! Ironically, because of the rumor of protests, many schools in Port stayed closed and traffic was almost nonexistent. We actually made it to the airport from Grand-Goâve in record time - under 1.5 hours! Comforted by the absence of trouble on the streets in Port, the three of us flew off for the USA together for the first time ever!
Having arrived in Fort Lauderdale 5 hours earlier than anticipated, Len thought it was important for Gama and I to visit Lynn University and the Lynn Memorial - dedicated to the six students and professors who died at the Hotel Montana on January 12, 2010. Indeed, it was an important place for us to go. We were able to meet with President Kevin Ross and Vice President Greg Malfitano to discuss plans for the 5th Anniversary of the tragedy. We were honored to have a personal tour and explanation of the symbolism included in the design of the Memorial, and can' thank the President and Vice President enough for their warm welcome.
From there, we flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, where we met up with Cherylann and her sister Jodi. Jodi serves on our Board and helps out with all of our fundraising events and keeps us on task for this important work! Together, we piled in to a mini van and drove two hours to Greenville, SC. It's here that our friends and supporters Gus and Belinda organized a fundraising event. Thanks to the graciousness and generosity of their friends Ben and Bennie, an event was held to bring more than 125 +people together to learn more about Britney and about Be Like Brit!
With a crowd of that size, especially given that most of them had not previously heard about Be Like Brit, it was important that we have all the key players on hand to answer the many questions people had about our organization. Missing only (yet dearly!) our USA Director Kristin, Team Be Like Brit spent the better part of two hours describing our work and our efforts. Near the end of the event, Cherylann and Len spoke the the crowd and told them their story.
We are always so fortunate to share Brit's story with new friends! No matter the outcome of any of these events, we know that we are keeping Brit's legacy of compassion and selflessness alive by telling others about her and about her dreams for Haiti. We know that the more people who know about Be Like Brit, the better. As a result of our friends Gus, Belinda, Ben, and Bennie's amazing generosity, we've shared that work and that vision with more than 100 new people!
The fundraiser was a wonderful event and success! We are so grateful to those in a position to be able to help who step forward and offer help their home and their time!
While just two days were spent in South Carolina with our new friends, we achieve so very much! We've planted the seeds and shared the good news of Be Like Brit, and we know that our new friends will bring that message to everyone they know!
That's what we want our friends and followers to know. You don't have to give millions to Be Like Brit to make a difference. From the items on Cherylann's Wish List, to child sponsorship, to in-kind and cash donations, it's through these great networks of people that we are able to do what we do in Haiti. You can and you DO make a difference. Even those who can't give - the simple act of sharing our facebook posts with your friends on your own wall yields invaluable results. As our facebook page has some 17,000+ followers, when someone follows or shares, it reaches thousands more people. Our social media impact score goes up with every share, like, comment, or retweet! Help us make that difference!
It was a busy week, but it was a great week! I got to spend time with Len and Cherylann outside of Haiti, seeing all the work they do - how exhausting and grueling their travel schedule really is! I got to spend two days rooming with Gama and having "non work" time with him. I also got to spend some time with Kristin and many of our Britsionarys up in Boston for a bit of R&R.
We are so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people and friends and so blessed to work together with such amazing people! The more we grow, the more I recognize that. Thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!
