Want To Share a Frappucino??

I recently received this note from my cousin Marelda and wanted to pass it on here. If you have time for a cup of coffee, then you have time to share. So sit down, get comfy and begin here.....

"As you know, we are currently experiencing a worldwide surge in fuel costs. This has led to a global food crisis. In the Americas, no place has been harder hit then Haiti where “dirt poor” takes on a literal meaning. Mothers assuage their children’s hunger pangs with mud cookies, made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening. Just yesterday the Miami Herald reported on food riots in southern Haiti. Today news bring reports of riots spreading to Port au Prince.

In such circumstances, we would like to introduce you to the work of our friends at What If Foundation, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (www.whatiffoundation.org ).

Eight years ago Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, who works in the Tiplas Kazo neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, was talking to one of our friends, Margaret Trost. He described the numbers of children who were coming to him every day, starving, asking if he had any food they could eat. He wanted to be able to start a food program but didn’t have any resources to realize this vision.

Margaret’s response was… ‘What if there is a way to make this happen?” When she returned to the States a few days later, she talked with family and friends, folks started putting their money together, and within three months the first meal was served – 500 children began to receive one wholesome meal every Sunday. Today, 1,000 children and 250 adults receive a nutritious meal five days a week. A scholarship program also funds the education of 140 children a year as well as a fun-filled summer camp.

This is a very small simple program, funded totally by individuals, families, and a few churches. Our family has had the privilege of helping to support the work of this superb little program for a number of years now. What If really works; it delivers on what it says it will do.

But right now, for the first time since it began, the program may not be able to deliver as usual. There's just not enough money left in the budget to cover the massive increase of the cost of food over the past several months. So the immediate short term goal of What If is to try to get more donors so that children’s meals will not be interrupted.

We’re writing to ask you to consider helping us out in a very particular way – click on the website donation link, and donate the cost of one frappucino! That’s about four bucks. It costs about 65 cents to feed a child a meal of rice, beans, veggies from the farmers market and a piece of chicken. With each frappucino donated, a child can eat five meals, more or less.

And then….if you feel so moved, you can forward this email to your family and friends, and we can see what happens!

“Piti piti n a rive” is one of the frequently overheard Creole sayings around Tiplas Kazo. It means “little by little we will arrive.” The What If? Foundation believes that every act of love makes a difference. Every prayer. Every gift is meaningful, no gift too small. The Foundation is built in trust that all things are possible and that step by step, caring people can make a difference.

Thank you so very much for reading thus far! God bless and keep you,"

David, Marelda, Erin and Rach