Dear Friend,
Since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti nearly a year ago this past January, we’ve all heard about the horrendous loss of life, the squalid tent cities, the Cholera epidemic, and now, the violence. It seems the sadness never ends for this small, desperate island nation, however, I’d like to share some good news with you about a charitable organization that is making a difference by “helping Haitians heal Haitians.”
A few years ago, I went on a medical mission as a volunteer for an organization that was providing much-needed healthcare to communities whose people rarely received organized care. Like most first time visitors to Haiti, I experienced sensory overload shortly after my arrival there. The poverty, overcrowding, noise, filth – even the smell – all contributed to what I sum up as desperation. My role, as the sole non-medical persoon the team, was to help organize the clinics that we conducted at various sites in and around Port-au-Prince.
The trip was arranged on a shoestring budget, yet we were able to provide basic healthcare services, including medication, to more than 500 people during that week. Wleft for home with the uneasy knowledge that the patients we had treated, and the sites our clinic visited, would have to do without medical attention until we returned. Their
need fueled my desire to do more, and it gave birth to Medical Aid To Haiti, Inc. (MATH).
MATH, formed in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that sponsors medical missions to Haiti and, most importantly, sponsors a Haitian-staffed mobile medical clinic that operates in and around Port-au-Prince. The mobile clinic travels three days each week to the same medically-underserved areas, providing a desperately needed
continuum of care. In response to the earthquake, during this past year MATH sent five medical missions to Haiti to work hand-in-hand with the Haitian mobile clinic staff.
The annual cost to support the mobile medical clinic and fund medical missions is approximately $75,000. MATH is an all-volunteer organization and 100% of the money we raise is used for clinic and mission expenses. Our hope is to expand the operation of the clinics to five days each week and to have the funds needed to ensure its continued operation.
Here is where I ask for your help. MATH has been presented with a donations challenge by a small group of donors. If we can raise $25,000 by March 31, 2011, they will match it with their own contributions. Please help us take advantage of this opportunity. This is a time when the people of Haiti need our support more than ever. We cannot accomplish our goals without your help, and we ask that you join us in offering a much-needed helping hand to those in need.
We gratefully accept donations at the address below, or on our Web site at www.medicalaidtohaiti.org. Thank you for your generous consideration.
Kind Regards,
Rick Thibadeau
Chairman & Founder, MATH
Mail tax-deductible contribution to:
Medical Aid To Haiti, Inc.
80 South Main Street
West Hartford, CT 06107
Connecticut Walks for Haiti
