Saint-Marc. . .

Photo taken in the mountains outside St-Marc. The child was reunited with her mother.

Sifting through the internet this morning it appears that Saint-Marc did escape the earthquake relatively unharmed, however refuges from Port-au-Prince are now flowing in to the city.  The need for supplies in Saint-Marc will be great .  Please give all you can, go to the City of Lake Worth’s website http://www.lakeworth.org for updated information on how to donate locally.

Here is some of the most recent news of Saint-Marc, gleaned from blogs and news accounts on the internet.

My husband was in St. Marc during the earthquake at Mission Possible with a missions team working on a vocational school. From all the reports I’ve read, though there was shaking, there were no injuries in that area.

I have a child in St.Marc, I am so happy to hear the report there is no injuries there. Praying for all children and people of Haiti. This is so heart wrenching.

Reports from some of the IOM sub-offices have filtered in with staff in the town of St.Marc who visited a local hospital saying that about 50 injured people had come in from Port-au-Prince for treatment. Many people were also looking in the hospital for lost family members. St.Marc was reported to have suffered minor damages and no injuries.

Saint-Marc escaped much of the earthquake damage, but officials there are anticipating an influx of refugees.

A big problem now seems to be the injured from Port-au-Prince who have been sent to hospitals near the orphanage for treatment, Francis said. He saw hundreds outside the hospital in the nearby town of Saint-Marc, waiting for help.

“We have a lot of fractures,” he wrote in an email. “We are running out of meds, I’m on my way to St. Marc [a PIH facility] for supplies.”

Importantly, given the patients already flowing out of Port-au-Prince to St. Marc and our other facilities outside the city, we cannot leave our hospitals understaffed.  So we are recruiting surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, and other medical professionals to travel to Haiti in the next couple of days to help with staffing, particularly as many of our staff have lost family members and friends.

The 23 Million Dollar Letter. . .

“I am so thrilled about the award of NSP-2 funds for our community. This is another example of positive thinking, vision and all of us working together for the good of the City.  I am proud to work here with a terrific staff and leadership. All of our consortium partners and the CRA Board gave us tremendous support and deserve all the accolades that can be bestowed upon them.”

Joan C. Oliva

Executive Director, Lake Worth CRA

Click Image To Enlarge

City Staff “Races” To Help Haiti

This is what our City Staff is doing to help out Haiti.  It’s an extraordinary effort but knowing Lake Worth’s staff it is a sure bet they will exceed their own expectations.

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I am sure that you have seen the devastation that the Haitian Community is experiencing in Haiti. We are asking that you the employee connect with us so that we may reconnect with the Haitian Community. Our heart goes out to those employees whose families were impacted due to this devastation. Directors please kindly identify those employees and submit their names to the Human Resources Department.

When making the decision to donate, think about the fact that you are “safe” here in the United States and your loves ones are near or you have the opportunity to pick up the phone and be reassured of that. In Haiti the simple process of making a phone call is impossible. People have died and families separated due to this devastating earthquake. Walk in the shoes of this community for a moment…now let’s speed up the pace of your walk and “Race for Relief”! The Human Resources Department is challenging you to exceed your expectations when it comes to reaching out to a hurting people. How are we going to do this? Glad you asked, here is the process:

1) The City is being divided into (3) Teams:

Team #1 City Hall, Building Divisions and Customer Service – Team Captain (Diane Clark)

Team #2 Public Services – Team Captain (Joseph Kroll)

Team #3 Utilities – Team Captain (Rebecca Mattey)

2) We are asking that each team “Race” to see who can offer the most relief to Haiti by 5pm on Thursday, January 21st. There is a list of items attached to this e-mail that are needed and we are asking that you deliver those items to the Human Resources Department. There is a “per item” point system and the Team with the most points will enjoy a Pizza Party. The team Leaders with less points will serve the Pizza to the winners . Keep in mind that we are all winners, we just might have to buy our own pizza if we end up being on the teams with the least amount of points!

3) Donations can be delivered to the HR Department starting today! Moving slow is not an option! Think about it, when you are hurting don’t you want relief immediately? Donations have been assigned a point system (see attached list). Monetary donations will receive (1) point per $5 donation. Team Leaders should deliver any monetary donations to Barbara Hiller in the Finance Department.

4) Our Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Commission have met with the Lake Worth Haitian Community already and should be commended for their quick response, Thank you! The employee effort will work in concert with the City’s efforts. A committee of residents have been formulated and we have been in contact with the Barton Elementary Principal who is heading this committee. Once we have collected our items they will be delivered to this group who will in turn have them delivered to Haiti. This group was formulated to ensure that efforts are organized and that all donations are safely delivered to Haiti so that the people may partake of these much need items immediately.

1) We have ONE WEEK to come together and exceed the expectation of the residents that we serve! The race starts NOW and ends 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, 2010. Yes we will accept donations after this time BUT they will not be applied toward your points to win the challenge.

2) The items will be delivered to the Committee on Friday, January 22, 2010. We will need volunteers to help transport these items as well.

Thank you for your usual cooperation! If you have any questions just ask.

Make it an extraordinary effort,

Sylvia Woods

Human Resources Department

Lake Worth CRA Gets $23,237,500 NSP2 Grant!

This is outstanding news!

Christopher  Summa contributed to this post, standby for more on this breaking story.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that HUD is awarding $2 billion in Recovery Act funding to states, local governments and non-profit housing developers, under HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), to spur economic development in hard-hit communities and create jobs. Nearly 60 grantees are receiving awards. A full list of grants awarded today can be found on HUD’s Recovery Act website. Click Here.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2  Awards For Florida From HUD Website:

Total Grants for Florida $ 348,311,034

City of Sarasota $ 23,000,000

Habitat for Humanity International, Inc. $ 74,698,534

Housing Authority of the City of Tampa $ 38,000,000

Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency $ 23,237,500

Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida, Inc. $ 89,375,000

Neighborhood Lending Partners of West Florida, Inc. $ 50,000,000

Palm Beach County $ 50,000,000

Thinking About Our Sister. . .

Many people may not know that Saint-Marc, Haiti and Lake Worth are sister cities.

Here is a map of Haiti showing were Saint-Marc is and the location of Port-au-Prince.  The two cities are separated by about 50 miles.

Click on image to enlarge

Naturally while we are all worried about the welfare of all of Haiti following the earthquake, Saint-Marc is of particular concern to many here in Lake Worth.

Information from Haiti is understandably sketchy at this point, however there is news of a group of missionaries from Tyler, Texas who were in Saint-Marc when the earthquake hit. It appears that, while shaken, Saint-Marc may have escaped serious damage:

Tyler Morning Telegraph
Tyler, Texas

Area Missionaries In Haiti Describe Devastating Event

By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

There was screaming Tuesday afternoon when buildings started to rock in Saint-Marc, Haiti, and the electricity went out. Workers with Youth With A Mission in that city could hear panic in the voices of families nearby who could not take shelter from an earthquake that devastated Port au Prince, the nation’s capital.

Located north of the capital, Saint-Marc escaped major damage said YWAM’s national leader, Terry Snow, during a phone message to YWAM directors in Tyler on Wednesday. Snow, of Granbury, received his missions training at YWAM Tyler before moving to Haiti 19 years ago.

“Terry said the people were very scared, but that there was no significant damage in the city that he had seen,” said Debbie Lascelles, who is in the leadership of YWAM Tyler. “By Wednesday morning he turned his attention to mobilizing assessment teams to Port au Prince to see where aid from YWAM Tyler could be best used.”

Lake Worth Haitian Relief

Lake Worth’s Haitian community met with the City Commission and other concerned citizens tonight at City Hall to organize local relief efforts for earthquake devastated Haiti.

In a packed Commission Chamber, Mayor Verela and the Commissioners pledged the City’s help to act as a conduit to aid the swift distribution of food, supplies and money to Haiti.

Many people contributed suggestions as well as offering their time and skills to the effort, resulting in the formation of  the Lake Worth Haitian Relief Committee.

Barton Elementary Principal Aurora Francois stepped forward offering her time as well as space at the school as headquarters for the committee.  Francois was subsequently chosen as president to head the committee of volunteers.

Beginning at 9:00 tomorrow morning people may call Barton Elementary at 561-540-9100 for more information on where to donate items or money.  A list of  suggested items to donate from tonight’s meeting are:

Food & Supplies

Cereal, Pop Tarts, Sardines, Canned Goods, Carnation Mild Powdered Milk, Diapers, Wet Naps, Tents, Sleeping Bags, Flashlights & Batteries, Candles & Matches, Clothing, Plastic Flatware, Powdered Drinks, Construction Gloves, Construction Rags.

Medical Supplies

Band Aids, Gauze Pads, Medical Tape, Hydrogen Peroxide Pads, Alcohol Pads, Antibacterial Ointment, Toilet Paper, Latex Gloves, Tampex, Sanitary Napkins, Aspirin, Surgical Masks, Asthma Inhalers.

Somewhere, Joe McCarthy Was Smiling Last Night. . .

Intracoastal Rights of Way Meeting Tonight

Spaghetti Dinner Fund Raiser for The Guevara Family

Update.  Sadly, Evelyn Guevara passed away over the weekend but the fundraiser dinner will still be taking place with the proceeds going to the Guevara family for funeral expenses.  Please attend.

A District 14 Family Needs Your Help

To Bring Their Wife / Mother Home!

Spaghetti Dinner Fund Raiser for The Guevara Family

Evelyn Guevara who volunteered on the City of Lake Worth Citizen Observer Patrol suffered both a heart attack and stroke while in Massachusetts in July of 2007 leaving her separated from both her husband and children.  The Guevara family have devoted countless volunteer hours making our community safer through the PBSO Citizen Observer Patrol Program.  Currently Evelyn’s husband and daughter continue to be involved in the program in spite of this tragic circumstance.  Evelyn’s son, Jason Guevara, is a PBSO District 1 Deputy currently serving in the military stationed in Iraq.  The family is struggling to make ends meet on a fixed income and need to raise $6,500.00 to transport their mother back home.  Please show your support by attending the spaghetti dinner fund raiser or by making a monetary donation.

Date:  Wednesday – January 13^th

Time:  5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Place:  Murray Hills / Ballroom

3420 Cynthia Lane, Lake Worth

Located off of Lake Osborne Drive

Spaghetti Dinner, Salad, Non-Alcoholic Beverage & Dessert

Ticket Price $7.00 in advance or to make a donation contact

Deputy Mahoney 436-3479 or Sgt. Rick Ponce 662-2392

Ticket Price at the Door $8.00

He who plants a tree plants a hope. ~Lucy Larcom