“We live in challenging financial times here in the Detroit area,” Vigneron said in a statement. “But that never seems to dampen the generosity of the people of this region when they have the opportunity to help their brothers and sisters in dire need.”
The Archdiocese also identified one of the fatalities of the earthquake as Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince, whose body was found under the rubble of his residence Wednesday morning.
“We offer our prayers for the victims,” Vigneron said, “and for all those impacted by this tragedy, especially the survivors and the relief workers on site and those on their way.”
Joe Kohn, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said a team from Catholic Relief Services, the Catholic version of the American Red Cross, is in place in Haiti, distributing emergency relief to earthquake victims.
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit, has for many years worked closely with the pastor of St. Clare parish, located in the slum neighborhood of Delmas in Port-Au-Prince.
“Needless to say, communication is difficult at present, but everything we have heard so far is all bad news,” Gumbleton said. “The conditions are deplorable. It’s going to take a while to sort our what exactly has happened, but I hope to get down there in the next 10 days or so.”
For the past 20 years and with the assistance of an army of volunteers, Gumbleton said, their work has resulted in the establishment of a clinic in Delmas where health care providers keep up to date with the children by providing medical care and nutritional food programs that feed between 600 to 800 kids a day.
“It’s a magnificent thing to see,” Gumbleton declared. “These are all kids who would not normally get a hot meal provided to them daily.”
William Samuels, 63, a parishioner at St. Leo’s Church in Detroit, belongs to a local group of volunteers that, along with parishioners from Sacred Heart Church in Detroit, annually collects goods and makes trips to Haiti to assist the local residents. Their next trip was planned for April.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the people there and I’m hoping for the best,” he said. “We’re waiting to see if there is anything we can do, but that will just come with time.”
A retired DTE Energy employee, Samuels said he has been doing helping Haitian residents for the past eight years.
“Living conditions there are nothing like here,” he admitted. “Things we take for granted like running water and electricity don’t even exist. I can’t imagine what it will be like after the earthquake. We Americans are truly blessed.”
In the past, Samuels said the group has collected money to help with the building of a new school, but now mainly devotes its efforts to organizing food drives and collecting canned goods, rice, dried beans and powdered milk for the Haitians. They also meet with the locals and identify projects that need work and assist them by raising funds in the United States.
On his visits to Haiti, Samuels said, the local residents are happy to know that people outside Haiti are reaching out to help them.
“Every year when I get back home, I go through a period of slight depression as a result of the poverty versus the excess, we have here,” Samuels said. “But you can’t let it stop you. It just makes me realize there is still a lot of work to be done.”
The Detroit archdiocese is collecting contributions on behalf of Catholic Relief Services.
Or, you can mail donation checks to:
The Archdiocese of Detroit
CRS Relief Efforts (4th Floor)
1234 Washington Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226
* please indicate "CRS Relief" in the lower-left memo line
Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: nwarikoo@freepress.com.