Children's HopeChest Ministry's Plan to help Haitian Children

Haiti's devastating earthquake may triple the number of orphans (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/16/haiti.earthquake.carrefour.orphanage/index.html)
living on this small impoverished island. Already one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's new orphan crisis will bring incredible strain upon the country's resources to care for children.

Our ministry team has developed a two-stage plan to assist organizations in caring for an expected 300% increase in orphaned children in Haiti.

EMERGENCY FOOD RELIEF

Through our "5 for 50 (http://www.5for50.com/)" program, we have already contributed $3,000 to Kids Against Hunger. In 2009, they shipped over 500,000 meals to our carepoints in Africa. From Jan 1 - Feb 28, HopeChest will donate 100% of all 5 for 50 (http://www.5for50.com/) contributions to Kids Against Hunger to feed Haiti's orphans. To join us, please go to http://www.5for50.org (http://www.5for50.com/) to make a gift. 100% of all contributions made before Feb 28 will support emergency food relief for orphans in Haiti.

LONG-TERM CARE
Organizations are rushing into Haiti--just as we watched them pour into the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Today, less than 10 percent are still ministering in Russia. Right now, HopeChest is conducting extensive due diligence on several orphan ministry partners in Haiti. Our COO, Bob Mudd, has been on the phone every day with new potential long-term partners.
We are looking for ministries with a pre-earthquake track record of caring for orphans, and who will experience a substantial increase in the number of children they are serving. Through a ministry partnership with Children's HopeChest, we will explore providing long-term care through our CONNECT COMMUNITIES outreach, as well as our TRANSFORM church sponsorship programs.

Above all, please pray for everyone affected by the earthquake, especially David Hames and his family. David attends Vanguard Church, one of our Swaziland carepoint sponsors. David was in Haiti to film stories of children for Compassion International and was in the Hotel Montana when it collapsed during the earthquake. Search and rescue teams are working to locate David, and we ask you to join us in asking for God's miraculous hand to work in Haiti today.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
Sincerely,
The HopeChest Ministry Team
P.S. If you haven't contributed to disaster relief in Haiti, we would encourage you make a financial contribution to one of the following organizations:

- The Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/)

- Compassion International (http://www.compassion.com/)

- Samaritan's Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/)

Plane filled with Haitian orphans among 19 flights to Sanford, FL

Jan. 19, 2010 story from the Orlando Sentinel:

An Air Force C-17 carrying 53 children rescued from a Haitian orphanage is among 19 flights from Haiti that have arrived at Orlando Sanford International Airport as of this morning.

Officials said the orphans were flown out of Haiti because their adoptions by American families had already been arranged.

On Sunday night, five orphans arrived on a flight carrying 91 other people. Those five are being adopted by one family, officials said.

The Haiti-to-Sanford airline passenger count stands at 1,916. Of those, 1,334 are U.S. citizens and 387 of them are foreign nationals, said Carrie Hoeppner, spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Children and Families.

After clearing Customs, more than 1,300 of the passengers were taken immediately by Lynx bus to Orlando International Airport to catch flights to cities where they have relatives, Hoeppner said.
Others have been temporarily placed in hotels and in some cases relatives are driving to Sanford to pick up the evacuees, officials said.
Almost all of the foreign nationals have family living in the United States, officials said.

Some of the evacuees are either injured or disabled and are arriving in Sanford in wheelchairs or on stretchers. On one flight carrying 191 people Monday night, 21 passengers were in wheelchairs, Hoeppner said.

The Seminole County Fire Department has activated an emergency operations center at the airport and is assisting with patients needing critical care, spokesman Greg Kirby said.
Firefighters have transported 15 evacuees to area hospitals for emergency treatment, he said.
The evacuees who are not injured are, for the most part, exhausted, Hoeppner said. "Most of them are telling us they have not slept for a number of days," she said. Most of them, she said, told of sleeping outdoors because they were afraid of after-shocks.

Officials in Sanford have no idea how long the flights are going to continue, but DCF, which is charged with repatriating Americans once they arrive back on U.S. soil, has made plans to staff both Orlando Sanford International and Orlando International 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for at least two weeks, Hoeppner said.

The state agency is working closely with volunteers from the American Red Cross at both airports.
Most of the government agencies are incurring overtime costs in order to increase staffing to handle the flood of passengers, but they have been promised reimbursement by the federal government, which if coordinating the flights. Evacuees are arriving in either military transport planes or commercial jets chartered by the military.
So far, 30 unescorted minors have arrived, but all of them were flown here because they have family in the United States, Hoeppner said.

Some of the minors were placed temporarily in a foster home arranged through the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, but none of them will be in long-term foster care, she said.

Late Monday, a 17-year-old girl arrived with a 3-month-old sibling. She told authorities her parents left to go to a supermarket before the earthquake hit and never returned. Arrangements were made for them to fly to relatives in New York this morning, Hoeppner said.

DCF is responsible for giving loans to U.S. citizens who need money to get home.

"They are American citizens and they are eligible for immediate assistance," Hoeppner said. "They sign a promissory note on sight." Even when temporary hotel lodging is provided, it is in the form of a loan, she said.

Seminole County Emergency Management arranges similar loans to non-American citizens.

In reality, all of the agencies are working closely together, said Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris. That includes the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and airport services at Orlando Sanford International, he said.
Red Cross volunteers from across Central Florida have distributed food, water, diapers, blankets, baby formula, stuffed toys and comfort kits containing toiletry items. They also are providing snacks.
Seminole County is also assisting with the needs of evacuees through Harvest Time International. That organization, at 225 Kennel Road, west of Sanford, is accepting money, non-perishable food, baby formula, hygiene products and first-aid supplies, he said.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-haiti-sanford-evacuate-20100119,0,1223381.story