Who we support
Memory Cross supports children through three organizations:
• Helping Hands Orphanage - Dominican Republic
Food for the Hungry
Food for the Hungry is a fairly large organization serving children on multiple continents. This information is from their website:
Values
We follow Jesus
Our work is relational
We invest wisely and focus on results
We serve with humility
We pursue beauty, goodness and truth
The founder, Larry Ward had this to say:
“We start with the face of God. He cares about the hungry. We know he does, because there is more than abundant evidence of this in His Word. And he has specifically mandated us to do something about it. We find that over and over again in the Bible.”
We have found them to be focused on loving and serving children while helping them learn about Jesus and escape poverty. If you sponsor a child you will receive regular correspondence. The organization is supported by a number of Christian Artists. The video will give you some idea of how they serve their communities.
Helping Hands Orphanage
This is a local orphanage in the Dominican Republic close to the Haitian Border. I know the founder personally. He started the orphanage because young Haitian boys were on the streets trying to survive. Pastor Pedro knew we could do better, so with key support from a few people he secured funds to build the orphanage.
They serve orphaned and abandoned boys in Barahona Dominican Republic. Rebecca Gentry is the US contact and her passion for the children at Helping Hands is amazing. She spends months down there serving the children and her love for them and the orphanage is inspiring. Rebecca and I (Mike Vitamvas) live 30 miles from each other so it is great to be able to keep up on a personal level with what is going on at the Helping Hands Orphanage.
Respire Haiti
One thing I like about supporting smaller organizations is it is easier to get a sense of the founders passions and that is definitely true with Respire Haiti. Megan Boudreaux has an amazing story and she put it in a book called Miracle on Voodoo Mountain, available on Amazon. If you enjoy reading stories of how God moves in people's lives, this is one book you will want to get.
Respire Haiti serves mostly restavek children in Gressier, Haiti. A little background in case you are not that familiar with Haiti. In the United States we have social services that help families and if necessary remove children from a home and place them in foster care. Haiti developed a system where poor families could give their children up to wealthier families with the thought that they would have a better opportunity in life.
Unfortunately the system is filled with abuse. Instead of children moving in with wealthier families and getting the advantages, they have become child slaves. They are responsible for the cooking, cleaning, gather water, going to the market, and doing the household chores, never getting to attend school.
Respire Haiti serves about 540 kids providing free school, meals, clothes, books, etc to restavek children. In addition they have medical services, feeding programs where they serve about 1,500 people a week that would otherwise not receive a decent meal.
The capital of Haiti is a disaster right now with hardly any working government. While Gressier is not in as bad a situation they are suffering the effects: higher prices on everything, including food and the risk of travel to Americans who used to come and support Respire Haiti.
As a result of the three we support Respire Haiti needs help the worst. In 2023 the situation is critical. If you can help with a one time donation, sponsor a child or just pray for Haiti, everything helps.
This is the situation in Haiti in 2023.