Concerts Help CRWRC in Haiti
CRWRC Newsroom | March 11, 2010
Following two concerts last weekend, Calvin College students in Grand Rapids, MI, will be able to donate more than $3,000 to CRWRC for the aid and reconstruction work it is doing in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
More than 200 people attended the benefit concert on Friday night and more than 100 people were at the late afternoon concert on Saturday.
One of the organizers said that almost everyone who attended one of the concerts bought a t-shirt, which made up a good amount of the profit from the event. Artwork was also auctioned off.
The Calvin College concert organizers teamed up with the school's Social Justice Committee to plan a two-day Haiti benefit concert. There was an admission charge of $3 for either of the concerts.
Last month, Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill, held a benefit concert for Haiti that featured the Haitian a cappella group Supremacy.
Nearly 300 people attended. Proceeds totaling more than $5,700 from the concert, as well as student organization t-shirt sales on campus, were given to CRWRC as well as Elim Christian School, in Palos Heights, Illinois, where students are making Hope Packs for Haiti, filled with food and supplies. Funds went to two other Haiti-related organizations as well.
Meanwhile, CRWRC continues its work in Haiti. On March 2, for instance, 1,050 households in the Masson community received rice, black beans, and vegetable oil. These essentials are critical to these families whose incomes have been dramatically reduced or eliminated because of the earthquake.
Another benefit for the families is that they won’t be forced to eat the seeds which have been saved for the coming planting season. In fact, since it appears that the rains are coming early, many in the community are in their fields planting crops of beans, corn, sorghum, various vegetables, and sugarcane.
The food distribution was funded through the Canadian Food Grains Bank, and organized by George and Toni Fernhout, CRWRC International Response Managers. To read more about this effort, click here.
First-year Calvin student Carrie Bensfield thought up the idea of holding the benefit concert for Haiti while she was driving home from Chicago with friends. She said Haiti was near to her heart, as she had just visited the earthquake-stricken country this past summer. The concert was a practical way she could help.
"In Haiti, you may only have one shirt," explained first-year student Becky Kim, who is helping organize the concert. “It helps to raise awareness (and to) relate to the people of Haiti."
Both young women were heartened by reports that Haitian president Rene Preval had called for three days of fasting and prayer in the aftermath of the earthquake. "I wept and wept," Kim said.
"I'm learning that God can take tragedies like these that are so bad and make something good out of them," said Bensfield. "We serve a God who does not waste anything, even tragedies." To read the entire story about the Calvin concert, written by Myrna Anderson, click here.
The people of Haiti continue to need your help.
Checks, marked "Haiti Earthquake 2010" can also be sent to:
CRWRC-US
2850 Kalamazoo Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
Ph: 1-800-55-CRWRC
CRWRC-Canada
3475 Mainway
P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD 1
Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8
Ph: 1-800-730-3490
—Matt Kucinski, Calvin College Communications, CRC Communications