8 O’CLOCKERS SPUR “OPERATION STARFISH”
EFFORT TO BUILD A HOUSE IN HAITI
A few weeks ago at St. Philip’s, Rev. Bill Sassman made a plea to help desperately poor Haitian people by pledging 50 cents a day to be used for food, medicine and housing. His full-time effort is called “Operation Starfish”, and he is a volunteer for “Food for the Poor, Inc.”, a non-denominational charitable organization that has been doing this for 24 years.
At a meeting with Rev. Bill after the service, the 8 O’clockers decided to go for the ultimate…to build a house: cost $2000.…We’ll call it the “Starfish House”.
The idea is simple. Each of our families puts aside 50 cents a day for the 40 days of Lent - total $20 x 100 families = $2000. Obviously the 8 O’clockers need the 10 O’clockers to join the effort. So this has become a church-wide Lenten campaign: give 50 cents a day for 40 days… and have a happier Easter.
The money will go directly to Fr. Bill at Food for the Poor, Inc. He assures us that 95% of the money will go to build a small one room, concrete block house with a zinc-sheet roof, a front door that locks, and a small front porch….tiny by our standards, but a godsend in Haiti. When it is built in about 6 months, Fr. Bill said we will receive a picture of it, and of the family who will make it their home.
On Easter Sunday, Co-Chair Donna Seelbach and I will sit at desks at the door after the 8 and 10 am services. We hope to collect 8000 25-cent coins, or, to make it simple, please keep the change and give us $20 checks. The deductible checks should be made out to St. Philip Episcopal Church and indexed for “Starfish House”. The church will then write one check to Food for the Poor, Inc., indexed with the number SC 50873 HP which is the code for our house to be built in Haiti. You may of course also give your check to one of us anytime before Easter if this is more convenient.
We will then invite Fr. Bill back at 8 am and 10 am services to accept our donation.
