Haiti and Here campaign

Haiti and Here
Church of the Transfiguration
What we did

Overview
The Episcopal Church is raising $10 million to rebuild the cathedral complex in Port au Prince, Haiti.  The complex was 85% destroyed during the earthquake of January 12, 2010.  Along with the worship space, the schools k-12, the university, the seminary, the convent, the medical facilities, and the symphony orchestra performance facility was severely damaged or destroyed.  One of the very few institutions in the country of Haiti, one of the few educational facilities that prepared Haitians to rebuild their infrastructure, was gone.  The church, in it’s wisdom and call to care for God’s people has responded by committing to raising money for the rebuilding program.

            All of the construction will be done by local workers and artisans.  This program will provide much needed jobs in Port au Prince.

The program
            TEC, on its website, has a 13 week fund raising program that is easy to use.  On the website are 13 weeks of bulletin inserts, electronic mailings, and other materials that can be used in running a campaign.   At Transfiguration, we decided to use a simpler approach.  Some of the ideas came from TEC, and some are our own.

            We also did a 13 week program.  The program was kicked off the week after Easter.  I preached a sermon that talked about opportunities to love others and do God’s work in the world.  After all, we are God’s hands in the world, no exceptions, remember?  While the service was in session, the church school children were building a model of the Haitian cathedral out of blocks cut from 2 x 4s on a large piece of plywood.  At the end of the service, before the dismissal, the model was brought to forward to the front of the church by the church school and their teacher.  One of our committee members then introduced the program to the congregation. 

            He told them about what had happened in Haiti.  The earthquake.  The children then read a few “Did you know…” facts.  At the completion of the “Did you knows”, the narrator then said, “and then on January 12, 2010, the earthquake struck.”  At this time, the kids created and ‘earthquake’ and the model came a tumbling’ down!  It was a wonderful visual to a tragic event.  Then the congregation was told how they could help.  The plan was to buy a ‘brick’ or block.  The key point we were trying to drive home is that although money is important, so is participation, and that any amount would ‘buy a brick’.  We provided envelopes with labels in the pews for contributions, and encouraged the members of the congregation to give generously.

            The next Sunday, we had a display set up in the community hall.  There was a poster made of fabric that symbolized the cathedral.  Along side of the fabric cathedral was a ‘thermometer’ that showed how much was contributed.  Along side the poster were copies of the ‘Did you know’ pieces.  We also had the posters that the Rev. Christy Close-Erskine’s daughter, Sophie, made for the program.  The piece of plywood was in front of the poster on a card table.  Now, we were ready for contributions.  When contributions came in, the name of the contributor was written on a block, and it was glued to the plywood base.  We are rebuilding the cathedral, one ‘brick’ at a time!  Each contribution bought a ‘brick’.

            We set our participation goal at 200 ‘bricks’, our estimated total congregation size, and our financial goal at $2000, one $10 ‘brick’ for each member.  We blew through the initial financial goal the first Sunday!  Amazing!  So we put up another parallel thermometer.  By the last week in June, we had blown through that one, too!  To date, August 14, 2011, Transfiguration has raised $4027 for Haiti and Here.  And more contributions continue to come it.  We are wrapping this program up at the end of August with a celebration and another sermon, yet to be written.

How we did it
            We have a monthly newsletter called the Transcript.  It is available to anyone at http://www.episcopalchurchsisters.org, and you can look at the articles written about Haiti.  They will be in April, May and June.  There was an article written by a different member of our team for each of the months.  The material for the articles came from TEC website, Haiti Appeal.

            We did a bulletin insert for each Sunday in the program period.  Most were short—less than half a 5 ½” x 8” page that were geared towards raising awareness of the opportunity to help.  On most Sundays, had an announcement about the program, and encouraged people to take a look at the ‘thermometer’ and the model cathedral that was being rebuilt. 

            Again, we emphasized participation.  We also talked about the Here part of Haiti and Here.  There was some concern that we don’t know what the ‘Here’ project will be yet.  We also said that participants could designate where their money went—to Haiti or to Here.  Or to both.  At Transfiguration, there has been no designation yet.

What you need to do
            Blocks.  Someone in the congregation needs to cut up a bunch of 2 x 4s to make blocks.  1 ½” x 1 ½” x 3 ½” blocks are really easy to make with a chop saw or radial arm saw.  You get about 60 blocks out of an 8’ 2 x 4.  Cut one for each  member of the congregation.  We also made a cross—you have to have a cross for a cathedral!

            Base.  The base needs to be made from a piece of ½ “ plywood that is large enough to build your models.  Transfiguration’s was about 3’ x 4’, and we cut 200 blocks.  Judge accordingly.

            Envelopes.  We made a label for donation envelopes (standard letter size), put labels on the envelopes, and put them in the pews.  We also put a number of them in front of the display with a note on how to contribute.  We can make the label artwork available to anyone who wants it.

            Money collection.  Someone in the congregation (it was the treasurer at Transfiguration) needs to make a list of who contributed and how much.  The list of contributors then goes to someone who will put the names of the contributors on the blocks and rebuild the cathedral.  At Transfiguration, it was a child from the church school, but could be anyone.  At the end of the program, a check needs to be written and brought to Convention or, if necessary, sent into the diocesan office.  There will be a special ingathering at convention in October.  In any event, a separate fund needs to be set up for the project.

            Committee.  Each congregation/convocation needs a team leader to coordinate the program.  We had a team of six people, in addition to the church school leader.  It was easy!  We had one meeting to set the process up and make assignments.  Everyone did what they said they would do, and the project has been a huge success.

            Building the model.  Our church school children built the initial model that was destroyed in the ‘earthquake’.  Obviously, if you don’t have a church school, it can be built by anyone!  And it’s fun!  When contributions come in, one of the team members was responsible for putting names on blocks and making sure the blocks got glued into the reconstructed cathedral.

Questions.  If any of you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email me.  I will respond as soon as I get the questions.

The way forward
            Stay tuned!  We are going to be talking about Haiti and Here at convention in Hermiston.  Our cathedral models will be on display at our meeting place, so it is in your best interest to do a program and bring your model in October.  We will be having some fun with this during the meetings—we may very well build a model that the diocese can be proud of.

Being Christ's Hands in the World...No Excuses!