As the Lenten season draws to a close, the Lincoln County Ecumenical Committee for Haiti (LCECH) has announced an extension of its 2023 appeal, ‘Hope for Haiti,’ to the end of April.

LCECH Chair Sharon Marchi of Bremen noted that despite the desperate situation in Haiti, contributions so far this year have fallen short of the campaign’s goal to raise $20,000 and she appealed for mid-coast residents to consider LCECH efforts to help the poorest of the poor in Gros Morne Haiti. “We’ve sent help to Gros Morne every year since 2010, she added, with not one instance of waste or abuse.”

The focus of this year’s assistance, like last year, will be to provide hot nutritious meals in Gros Morne elementary schools. For some pupils, this is their only meal of the day. This year, funds permitting, a new pilot program is to be launched to improve planting, growing and marketing of plantains, one of Haiti’s most important subsistence crops.

But the challenges remain daunting. In a message to LCECH last month, the Gros Morne Friends committee reported: “The news from Haiti is tragic. Kidnappings are up everywhere, including north of the agronomy center in Gros Morne. It is a challenge for people to access fuel and basic goods. Farmers are waiting for the rains to begin planting. The longer they delay, the more families experience hunger. (But hope persists), in Gros Morne, schools continue to function ... despite high levels of insecurity, generally.”

For more information on LCECH and the programs we support there, as well as to donate securely by credit or debit card, please go to https://gofundme.me/dce74968

Donors can also mail checks, payable to Lincoln County Ecumenical Committee for Haiti, or simply LCECH, to P.O. Box 1393, Damariscotta, ME 04543. The LCECH expresses its sincere appreciation for past and on going support.

For further information, please call 207-380-5103.