For decades, there has been poverty, hunger, and lack of education in Haiti. Father Thomas “Tom” Donohoe made a lifelong commitment to helping the children of Haiti. Even after his death in 2012, his legacy continues to make a profound difference in the lives of many children.
On this episode of Family Comes First™, It Started With Pennies, we are joined by Nicole Memnon and Greg Gengo. Nicole was approached by Father Tom in the 1990s to aid in arranging a connection between the children in his parish and the children in Haiti.
Nicole explains how his mission started with pennies. The children of the parish would bring in pennies during Lent to give to the children in Haiti. Father Tom believed connecting the children was so important. Nicole states, “…In every child, he saw the face of God. He always spoke about Matthew 25: when I was hungry, you fed me and you visited me.”
Greg explains the donation process and how they were able to provide not only money for the children in Haiti but clothes, hygiene products, food, etc.—things we take for granted.
Resources
We often hear stories of people who live in underdeveloped countries and the daily struggles they face due to scarce resources. Often times, these countries lack the means to have proper schools, hospitals and help to properly care for their occupants.
In this episode, we meet with Richard Costa, the Campus Minister at St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School and Father Robert Ketcham, Chaplain at St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School. They share with us their school’s mission to help the children of Lima, Peru. Together, some students of the school along with Richard Costa and Father Robert Ketcham visit the Villa la Paz Foundation, center for destitute and sick children once a year to provide companionship to the children in the underdeveloped city of Lima, Peru. While in Peru, they also take the children to doctors’ visits, therapy visits and hospital visits that they could not typically get to otherwise.
Click Here for Full Transcript
Resources
In the spirit of St. John the Baptist, prophet and herald, we, a diocesan college preparatory school, educate a mosaic of young people from a variety of backgrounds and of diverse abilities. We nurture mind, body and soul in an environment of mutual respect, social justice, and loving compassion. Guided by Catholic tradition, this community- students, faculty, staff, graduates and their families – strives to live lives rich in courage, faith and gentleness, and in so doing, bring the Gospel to a world in need.
