Bowling & Golfing for KAH

Please take note of these 2 fund raising activities, they promise to be fun and help raise even more funds & awareness of the Kids Against Hunger mission!

Reaching Out To Haiti from the Cincinnati Enquirer

This article can be found in its entirety here. Videos and pictures can also be found by following that link.

Reaching Out To Haiti
Two months after the quake, hunger, illness and homelessness threaten to break a wounded people
Stories by MARK CURNUTTE, mcurnutte@enquirer.com •
Photos by CARRIE COCHRAN, ccochran@enquirer.com •
March 22, 2010

They slogged toward the airport, lugging suitcases or balancing mattresses on their heads, lured by the promise of help. They came by the tens of thousands.

Blank expressions on their faces, they hoped to get some of the food and water they knew was arriving daily.

They didn't.

Despite the crush of international aid and relief workers, many Haitians still get little or no relief two months after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Instead, they've settled in crude shelters - fashioned from sticks, bedsheets, blue tarps and rust-streaked corrugated tin - that rim the airport's security fence........................

Child's Hope International, founded by a former Mason church pastor, Larry Bergeron, has assembled millions of high-protein meals in its Blue Ash "factory," a former Kroger grocery store, and shipped them around the world since its creation in 2008. Hundreds of thousands of them have gone to Haiti.

Bergeron, a member of Urbancrest Baptist Church in Lebanon, went to Haiti with three other church members last month to distribute 300,000 more meals. The 40-foot container, which he had been told had arrived in the Caribbean Sea port at St. Marc, instead had not gotten out of Florida.

He shipped to St. Marc in an attempt to avoid the indiscriminate tariffs slapped on aid by the Haitian government in Port-au-Prince.

Still, Bergeron borrowed 75 boxes of food he shipped late last year to a Clay City, Ky.,-based ministry with a Haitian mission.

Rethinking everything

One of the programs at the Children's International Lifeline center employs 20 women who make purses, aprons and clothing. In a room in a vocational school at the compound, women from the surrounding villages learn how to sew on foot-powered machines. They then graduate and join a manufacturing co-op that pays them a salary, a third of which goes into a mandatory savings account that allows them to buy the sewing machine.

"Otherwise, it's going to be an empty hole," said Don Curtis, of Clay City, who runs Lifeline. "We have to rethink how we do things; we have to help Haitian people make a better life for themselves. It has taken us years to get to this point. We had to essentially help bring up a new generation of Haitians."

Bergeron distributed 50 boxes of the borrowed food to the FOCAS-supported school in Calebasse. The remaining 25 boxes went to the Ebenezer Orphanage in the seaside town of Montrouis. It's run by a pastor and his wife, who have four of their own children. They've taken in 23 orphans and have struggled, since the earthquake, to feed them on a daily basis.

Bergeron, 61, visited the orphanage twice during his visit last month. The dirt compound lies behind a wire fence and a locked iron gate.

A church made from coconut leaves stands at the front of the property. A classroom and kitchen were built onto the back. Farther up the hill, the main house sleeps the family and children, as many as 16 on floor mats in a single room.

Bergeron spotted a vacant lot next to the orphanage and envisions a small farm that could teach the children agricultural skills and provide food for the orphanage. It could be landscaped to prevent erosion in heavy rains. An existing well could be dug deeper to ensure cleaner water. He planned to give the 40-foot sea container to the orphanage for housing.

The lot owner wanted $50 a month rent for the land for a guaranteed 10-year lease.

Bergeron, who has visited impoverished areas of Africa and Russia, had been to Haiti previously, and he has seen no situation as desperate as that in the Caribbean nation.

He focused on the possibilities at Ebenezer so as not to be overwhelmed by the enormity of Haiti's problems.

"We have to help people learn to help themselves," he said. "It took a long time to get into this situation. You have to start by trying to change the lives of children. You pick one project. It's almost like creating a firebreak to fight a forest fire. You draw a line and try to save some of the trees.

"I look at the level of brokenness and decay and think it might take 100 years to see a significantly better society."

Help Haiti 5K Run Walk

Help Haiti 5K Run Walk
Sunday, May 16th, 2010 3:00 p.m.
Oak Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH

Help Haiti - Run for their Lives

Join us Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 3:00 pm for a 5K Run/Walk and party
To benefit A Child's Hope International - Kids Against Hunger

Bill Hemmer - Master of Ceremonies
Featuring "The Menus" - Entertainment following the race

Register Online at GetMeRegistered.com

WHAT: 5K (3.1 miles) Run/Walk

BENEFICIARY: A Child's Hope International - Kids Against Hunger

WHEN: Sunday, May 16th 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Oak Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH

COURSE: 5K Course (just over three miles) begins and ends at Oak Hills High School.

RUN DIVISIONS: 14/under, 15-18, 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-59, 60-64, 65-69 and 70/over.

WALK DIVISIONS: 29/under, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70/over.

AWARDS: Top male and female runners and walkers. Age group awards to the top 15% of each run/walk division. Awards presented immediately following the race/walk.

AWARDS CEREMONY: Overall Winners will be recognized Immediately following the Race

MUSIC AND ACTIVITIES:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

1:30 Registration and Number pick up begins

2:00 Oak Hills Band Birdfinder performs

3:00 Race Starts / D.J. Bill Dattilo

3:45 Bill Hemmer and Larry Bergeron

4:00 The Menus!!

Come early and stay for the day!

REFRESHMENTS: Willl be provided for all race participants after the race.

EMAIL ADDRESS: All Pre-registered entries that include a valid email address will receive an email confirmation of registration prior to the race and will receive their individual results via email.

PRE-REGISTRATION FEE: $15 without a T-shirt or $25 with a T-shirt. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Monday, May 10th.

T-SHIRTS: Race T-shirts are optional. T-shirts are $10 each while supplies last.

RACE DAY REGISTRATION: Race-day Registration: $20 without a T-shirt or $30 with a T-shirt (while supplies last).

REGISTER ONLINE: Click here to register online at GetMeRegistered.com with a credit card through Thursday, May 13th. A small service fee will be added to your bill. This is the easiest way to go.

REGISTER BY MAIL: Register by Printing a PDF Race Brochure and Mailing. Printable Race Brochure (PDF). This is the cheapest way to go. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Monday, May 10th.

LATE REGISTRATION and NUMBER PICK UP: Saturday, May 15th from 12-3pm at the High School. Race Day prices apply at late registration so if you know you are coming, register early.

REGISTER ON RACE DAY: Race-Day Registration and Number Pickup: begins at 1:30 a.m. at Oak Hills High School.

***** NO REFUNDS****

OAK HILLS HIGH SCHOOL: Oak Hills is located at 3200 Ebenezer, Cincinnati, OH. It is on the West Side of Cincinnate, West of Glenway between Werk Road and Bridgetown Road.

GOOGLE: 3200 Ebenezer, 45248 for directions from your location.

PARKING: Ample Free Parking available at the High School.

Register Today!

Still have questions? Call Greg McCormick at 513.652.6225 for more information

Register Online at GetMeRegistered.com

Fashion Fundraiser Helps Feed Haiti

Fashion Fundraiser Helps Feed Haiti

Reported by: Larry Shields
Email: larry.shields@wcpo.com
Photographed By: Phyliss Ho
Photographed By: Larry Shields

NEWPORT, Ky -- High fashion helped feed hungry children all over the world this Saturday at The Syndicate.

The fundraiser, "Catwalk For Haiti," brought a slice of California culture to the Commonwealth.

Cincinnati native Jonathan Chia organized the event with his business partner Ashley Covarrubias. Their Los Angles companies Production Runway and Chia Media produced the event.

"A lot of people in Cincinnati have never been to a fashion show, so they really don't know what they get from their money," said Chia.

Each $20 ticket went directly to the Cincinnati charity "Kids Against Hunger," a program at Liberty Township-based, "A Child's Hope International."

"They send over rice, so two hours of your time, packaging the rice will feed someone for a whole year," Covarrubias explained. "So, by donating money and our time, hopefully we can feed a couple 100,000 people."

Chia says he got the idea for the show because he served as a solider with someone from Haiti.

"That kinda inspired me and Ashley to go out and do what we do -- which is fashion shows, but aim it a little bit towards helping out -- giving back to the community," said Chia.

The article and video can be found online here.

1,000,000 meals for Haiti

Dear Friend,

We had to share this news with you because it is so amazing! With your help, over 1,000,000 Kids Against Hunger meals have been shipped or will ship shortly to the children of Haiti through the Kids Against Hunger "Factory" in Cincinnati.

We will cross this amazing milestone of 1,000,000 meals this Saturday morning, March 20 . You may hear the celebration where you live when the shouts go up from the "Factory".

These 1,000,000 meals have used over 72 tons of ingredients: vitamins, minerals, dried vegetables, soy protein, and rice.

Nearly 6,000 volunteer hours were required to produce this amount of food. Add to that the contributions by the Red Shirt Team and you have to say it's amazing!

Each of us can offer hope for the helpless in Haiti.
Find out more at: www.HungerNoMore.us

Did you know that just $10 will provide healthy food for 1 hungry child for 1 month?

10 for 1

That's all it takes. Just $10 to save 1 child from the pain of hunger. It is easy to signup online to help. A minute of your time will change a child's life for a month, year or whatever you decide.

All of us who serve the least of these are very thankful for your time, talents and treasures invested at the "Factory". Thank you!

Young people can make a difference

Inspired by our last blog post, I thought I would post a handful of pictures of more young people who are making a difference. Each of the photos above display young men and women, who on their own initiative, decided to raise money for Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati. Each of them filled a collection box and gave 100% of the collection to KAH! Some of them shoveled snow for donations while some simply went door to door telling neighbors about KAH's mission, but bottom line, they all made a difference. They made a difference by providing the funds to feed starving children and are a great example for the rest of us. They have proved that you aren't too young to help...and likewise, you aren't too old to help, you aren't too busy to help, you aren't too tired to help, you aren't too "______" (you fill in the blanks) to help. We can all do something to make a difference.

Thank you again to the three examples above!

If you are familiar with who these three are, please comment below and tell us more about them! We'd love to hear more about their story of how they collected the donations.

Haiti Marketplace

A HUGE thank you goes to Kathy Stauffer from Columbus, OH for her support of Kids Against Hunger! After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, she felt compelled to do something to help the people that were suffering. Desiring to make a difference, Kathy helped organize a fundraiser at an elementary school that raised $4,070, half of which went to Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati! The $2,035 contribution to KAH will purchase the ingredients to produce 8,140 meals, or enough nutritious Kids Against Hunger food packets to feed almost 23 starving children for ONE YEAR!!!!

Here's her story, in her own words:

The event was put together in just over four weeks. My family is not involved in the Roots and Shoots organization that is mentioned in the article. The day after the earthquake in Haiti, I was totally overwhelmed with the things I was seeing on the news. I prayed and prayed for the many people there. But, I also prayed if there was something else my family and I could do. I got on the internet and found Kids Against Hunger. I had never heard of it before that day. I also talked to a few teachers at my children’s school to see if they had plans to do anything. That is how I got hooked up with the Root and Shoots group.

I attended their meeting on January 22nd. As the kids brainstormed many ideas of how they could help, one girl said, we could put all these together and have a marketplace. Throughout the next week the adults decided we could take on this venture and the planning began. I wish you could have been there to see how the how Wickliffe School community came together to make this happen.

There was ANOTHER snow storm that had started a few hours before the event began but that did not stop people from coming out. As families entered the front doors there were signs about Kids Against Hunger, a donation box for consumables, along with the video you sent me trailed by a Kirk Franklin “Help Haiti” video. About ½ hour into the night, the drum circle came out and joined us at the entry so kids could participate in playing bongos and other drums together. It was quite fun. Those who entered the gym could bid on silent auction items such as art by local professional artist, restaurant gift cards and more. The silent auction alone made almost $1,000. There were a few rows of tables with handmade crafts, jewelry, t-shirts and more. There were a few Caribbean musicians playing next to the market place then a long row of dinner items that had been donated by local restaurants and stores. ALL the money made went to the fund.

Outside of the gym there was a bake sale, hot chocolate stand, face painting, a puppet show and story reading of Haitian folklore and some games. It took many volunteers. But, the night was a success. Many people want to “do” something because there hearts were filled with grief for the people of Haiti This event gave them a way to contribute.

A local newspaper wrote an article of the event, you can find the article here.

Thanks Kathy!

Larry's trip to Haiti - Feb 2010

From ACHI/KAH Cincinnati's Executive Director, Larry Bergeron:

Dear Friend,

I just returned from a lengthy trip to various parts of Haiti to see first hand the destruction, the needs and how YOU have made a life saving difference in the lives of many children. We were able to serve Kids Against Hunger food that you provided through your donations or that you packed at the "Factory". Thank you!

The magnitude of the destruction is beyond what you can imagine. Although I expected to see a fleet of ships bringing food and supplies to the ports, there were only a few ships. Although I expected to see many cargo planes circling the airport to land, there were only a few planes.

Estimates say that it will take 1000 very large trucks, working 24 hours/day for 3 years to remove the broken concrete. Those trucks are not there. As such, one collapsed building after another remain as tombs for countless thousands of people.

We stored boxes of food in a damaged school in a village which had not received any food or water supplies since the earthquake. The Haitian Government reports that 48% of the children in this region die from the effects of severe malnutrition. And this was before the earthquake. All over this small country, acute hunger is becoming more of a nightmare than ever before.

Although the press and the media have moved on to cover other stories, please know that the crisis continues.

Here is how you can help:

1. Stop by any Fifth Third Bank and make a teller donation. Instruct them to deposit your tax deductible gift to A Child's Hope Int'l. All Fifth Third branch offices are prepared to help you. Send us an email of your gift amount and we will reply with a tax deductible receipt.
2. Give online TODAY through our secure web site service with electronic checks or credit cards at DonateNow
3. Click on Haiti Quake Relief for more information

Please email your questions about packing schedules and opportunities to our Volunteer Coordinator.

More than ever before, the children of Haiti need help and hope for the future

Pictures of Larry Bergeron's trip to Haiti can be found on KAH Cincinnati's facebook profile here.