UPDATE: Due to the adverse weather conditions, Tuesday's Haitian celebration and check presentation at Wakehurst has been postponed. Reschedule date TBA.
NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Regina students who raised more than $21,000 to help rebuild a primary school destroyed during the earthquake in Haiti last year will present a check to the founders of the school during a ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 6-7:30 p.m. at Wakehurst Student Center on Salve Regina’s campus.
Members of Salve Hearts for Haiti will present the check totaling $21,530.48 to Tom and Mary Lou Larkin, founders of Haiti Marycare in Port-Au-Prince. The presentation is scheduled at 7 p.m.
The students have organized a day-long celebration leading up to the check presentation that will include Haitian food served in the Miley Hall cafeteria during lunch, the selling of T-shirts and bracelets, a Haitian-style poetry slam, and Haitian music and dance performances.
“This is a large accomplishment and we could not have done it without the support of the entire Salve community,” said Megan Welsh, a co-founder of Salve Hearts for Haiti, which organized several fundraising events on campus during the past year. “The campus-wide support made our effort even more special as we were able to unite in a time of crisis to help the thousands of people whose lives were destroyed.”
Salve Hearts for Haiti’s fundraising events during the past year included a Tent City celebration, T-shirt and bracelet sales, penny wars, the showing of a film at the Jane Pickens Theatre and a dress-down day for faculty and staff.
Other founders of the group are Kelsey Fitzgibbons, Emilie Gallo, and Sunny-Dae Larson.
“As a group, we wanted to donate to the rebuilding of a school for two reasons,” Welsh said. “We see education and empowerment as the only way to overcome poverty, and we hoped to establish a bond of ongoing support with Haiti Marycare, the school and the surrounding community in Port-Au-Prince.
“We recognize that Haiti does not only need the immediate relief of food, water and shelter, but also a school that would continue to educate many generations and provide sustainability for the community.”