St Paul's Episcopal Church: South Florida Haiti Project

South Florida Haiti Project

Updates From Bondeau, Haiti
The Rev Anita Thorstadt has resumed her writings about the community of St Mary Madeleine in Bondeau. Click here to read her reflections.

Visit the South Florida Haiti Project web site for stories and pictures from our partners in Bondeau - Click here to view their website.

Visit the Haiti Response Forum at http:://haitiresponse.stpaulsdelray.org which contains information, conversations, plans and actions in response to the Haiti earthquake.

Click here for details of how you can help support the people of Haiti with monetary donations.

Mission & Outreach Support
Click here for the list of priority items that have been identified by our partnership serving St Mary Madeleine in Bondeau, Haiti. St Paul's has allocated an initial $10,000 from our Mission and Outreach budget with another $10,000 planned before year end.

Photos from Mission Trip 2009

History of the South Florida Haiti Project
St Paul's has joined forces with St Gregory's Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach and Toussaint L'Overture High School in Delray Beach to reach out to St Marie Madeleine Church in Bondeau.  St Marie Madeleine is a 'station' or mission of St Mark's Church in Jeannette, Haiti and is under the supervision of Fr Kesner Gracia and the Diocese of Haiti.

In 2007, St Gregory's raised $50,000 to build a school in Bondeau, a rural town of about 2,000 people.  150 students attend the school and St Gregory's contributes $20,000 annually to support salaries for administration and teachers.

Early in 2008, Deacon Anita Thorstad and Fr Andrew Sherman, both of St Gregory's, expressed an interest in having St Pauls partner with them in the mission to Bondeau.  They felt that the two churches working together could make a greater impact in the community. Subsequently, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach and the administration of Toussaint L'Overture High School for Social Justice also expressed interest in a joint effort.  Click here to visit the South Florida Haiti Project website.

Toussaint L'Overture is a charter school in Delray Beach founded by Major Joseph Bernadel, a Delray Beach resident and activist for the Haitian Community and Dr Diane Allerdyce, principal of the school.  A sizable part of the student population of Toussaint L'Overture is of Haitian descent.