Collections for Haiti, Liberia, and the US

Our next shipment is being readied!

Items will mainly be going to Haiti for schools. soccer, and garden programs.  However, we will also be shipping some items to the CYC-Liberia group and their orphanage there.  We will also be giving books (pre K- 12th grade) to local school children in NY and PA.

We will be packing supplies for Haiti and Liberia this Saturday. 

Please drop off new or lightly used soccer equipment (balls, shoes, whistles, etc), school supplies (paper, pens, pencils, calculators, backpacks), small gardening tools/work gloves, toys, or children's books to 104B in Swan or bring them to the lower parking lot (by the BonaResponds Trailer this Saturday between 10:35 and 11:15. (earlier is better as we will be able to sort and assign the donations to various groups.

Also we'd still love someone to sponsor shipping of a barrel (we fill each barrel with about $1000 of value--it costs us about $120 to ship) or to sponsor the water for the soccer practices ($30 a month) or to pay for a student scholarship (remember the last count was 23/60 in school, we want it up to 100%) at $20 a month (via HaitiScholarships)

Related articles

• Soccer programs in Haiti
• The Bishop of Jacmel Haiti on the importance of educatuon and how you can help

Soccer programs in Haiti

We are working with several soccer programs in Haiti...we will also be sending some soccer balls to Liberia and are looking for programs in need in the US.

Here is a video we had made in Les Cayes:


How can you help?

First learn about our programs, then collect soccer equipment (new or used) or make a donation :)

Rochelin is a good friend from Les Cayes Haiti.  He send pictures almost every Saturday Morning of the soccer practice there.  Thank you Rochelin not only for coaching and helping so much with the soccer program, but also for your work with trees and agriculture in Haiti. As I have told you, you are truly a #rolemodelhero! 

Here are some pictures:

 

But this post is not about Rochelin per se, it is about the children in the soccer program.

First the good news! It is awesome that they now have a soccer program--both male and female teams. This gives the children (now over 70 strong) something to hope for, something to do to stay off the streets, and some order in what can be a chaotic world. It teaches teamwork, exercise, and discipline. It is a start. It is a great start!

But too many of the players can not afford shoes. The program (Soccer for Peace) can can barely afford water for the players. Indeed they have had to shut down before for lack of funds for several years.

Only about 1/3 of the children in this program are currently in school. Working with HaitiScholarships we are trying to raise that number.

You can help. Donate money for their water. Donate used (or new!) soccer equipment (even sneakers and running shoes!) for their teams. Donate to HaitiScholarships for their schooling. Or just share this message. Maybe it will reach a soccer club, or a person who wants to sponsor a child, or pay for water for their practices.

We can do this. It is a small step to make Haiti (and the world a better place) but the longest journey begins with a step.

Donations can be made:

* Soccer (or school) equipment: 104B Swan Business Center St. Bonaventure NY 14778
* Monetary donations can be made viahttp://BonaResponds.org/
* Money for scholarships can be made via http://HaitiScholarships.org/

Equipment will also be going to programs in Leogane, Gonaives, and elsewhere in Haiti. 

An update on our Efforts in Liberia

We were asked by the University to document what we were doing so we figured we would share it with the BonaResponds Community as well.  If the embedded presentation does not work, here is the link: http://bit.ly/1aQpWrv

Short version:

We are helping CYC-Liberia with their new, much larger, orphanage. and we need your help to make it a success.

Here is an audio file that accompanies the presentation.  (Jim is not smart enough to link the two together, so we will go low tech).

https://soundcloud.com/jim-mahar-1/audio-for-liberia-presentation

Update on things

English: Satellite image showing deforestation in Haiti. This image depicts the border between Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republic (right). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

from our FaceBook group:

Update on things:

* Several jobs lined up for today (Saturday 10:35). Mostly inside (-14F the last I looked), but some outside work if it warms up to positive teens smile emoticon Big job is a new floor for a bathroom in Allegany county. (Sunday 11:20-- it will be tarping a roof I THINK). Relax, the roof is low.

* Thanks to the "Hurt Jim's Wallet" campaign, it was a good fundraising week that will allow us to make more WarmSnugglyBlankets(Thanks to Jim C!!) and also support the gardening and tree planting in Haiti. So THANK YOU ALL!!

* The order for new patches for blankets still has not come. I am getting worried. Tried checking on it by phone and email and no answer.

* April 11-12 International Service Weekend still taking shape. We spoke or texted with several people from Haiti, one in Bangladesh, and one from Charlotte yesterday about being involved. Would love others involved! Alumni groups? Churches? Other Schools? Past leaders? Remember: big or small. You can organize a small day for a group of friends, your work team, or just yourself. Clean up a park, teach English, visit a nursing home, paint a school room, or any of a million other things. Key idea is to make the world a little better, one person at a time. AND be a role model by sharing what you do so that others can follow your lead. (more info athttp://www.bonaresponds.org/isd.html

* Good news from Bishop Nelson in Liberia. The rent is paid! So they can now start worrying about making the orphans more at home in their new surroundings. Nelson and his crew are truly doing great work. Hats off to them!

* WRT garden or tree programs in Haiti, we heard from Onel (@TreesforLifeinHaiti), Djemson (OHAPCH), Wesley (CJM), and Rochelin (@Harvesting4Haiti) this past week. All are proceeding very well. Will be speaking with Sandra (TreeangesforHaiti) on Sunday evening to see how we can all work together more efficiently. TreeAngelsforHaiti have a big project planned in May, but alas it is during our finals as I would like to be there to help.

* We had a very good meeting with a group of new leaders on Friday afternoon. Have student leaders for soccer collections, a new local leader (each local leader will be responsible for one day per month--being the site leader, helping to get volunteers etc), and a couple of new HaitiScholarships' marketing and website plans. All in all a very productive late Friday afternoon!

* We did check into helping in Bradford PA this past week when a state of emergency was declared for a broken water line, but we were not needed.

Thanks everyone!! Get involved! Volunteer and Change the World!

Who we are: an introduction to BonaResponds

A big thank-you to the Olean Rotary club for the opportunity to speak at their luncheon today.  It was a good talk and I hope those present weren't bored by Jim's talk.  Here is the handout we gave that describes who we are:

Introduction to BonaResponds

If that does not work, here is a link and the actual write up. 

Update on many fronts

My top ten list for the week:

In this relative lull in the post snow cleanup, a fast update on other fronts:

1. A huge THANK YOU to all who helped in Buffalo!  The snow was truly breathtaking.  To see the community come together was encouraging and heart warming.  We made three trips up and had almost 50 volunteers.  We helped to clear 29 driveways, about 15 fire hydrants,  several roofs, doors, and walkways.  We now wait and hope the flooding is not too bad.

2. Haiti continues to be a source of both our great successes and bitter frustration.  First the bad news:  key parts of the solar system we donated to a school in Leogane were stolen and the one in Gonaives burned up. Because of this, we have placed the VERY needed system on hold until we can figure out how to stop the crime.    It is mindboggling frustrating and humbling.  On the positive side, we have heard great successes at schools and orphanages in Lascambas and Gonaives.  (GREAT JOB Jean and Djemson and the others)

3. Instead of solar in Haiti we will fund a few composting toilets as a test.  (At least they are tougher to steal or break!).  They will make things safer in many ways and reduce disease.   Additionally, the waste can be composted into fertilizer.  The program has the added benefit of being cheaper too!  Only $320.  We will be paying $270 on at least a couple to start.  Why $270?  A condition of one of the donors was that the Haitians raise at least some of the money as well so that they would truly see its worth and not just as another throw-away NGO handout.

4.  Also in Haiti as part of our efforts to improve education, we will be working with @Haitischolarships, some people from the St Bonaventure School of Education, as well as schools in Haiti to create better standards and on teacher training.  This will include better reporting from Haitian schools and tracking of attendance (teacher and student) and tracking improvement.  This is a BIG WIN!

5. Today the last of the money raised in the #EndEbola leaf raking campaign will go out.  If anyone wants to continue to help in a very impoverished area, we sure would love the help!  Today the CYC crew is back in Monrovia.  Their Kids Camp starts soon.  (Dec 10)

6. Our book collection has gone VERY slowly, so we will extend it until Dec 8th. Remember these are for local families with children from pre K to grade 12.  Books can be left off in 104 Swan Building on the SBU campus.

7. On Saturday night, our van suffered a broken window while parked on campus.  If anyone wants to confess to the vandalism and pay for a new window, we will NOT take it to the police nor security.

8. We will be working this weekend.  Best guess is in Olean, but we may go to Buffalo again if the needs look great still.  Stay tuned.  

9. THANK YOU to those of you who donated this past week! Denise, Todd, Sean, Pat, Ryan, Gary, Patricia, and those who helped with food this weekend.  We have said many times, but it deserves repeating "Without you, BonaResponds is just a good idea."

10. Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!  We all have so many things to be thankful for.  We often forget that when we see all misfortune and sometimes pure evil that happens.  The good is much more common even though it tries to hide itself.  Be good!  Be Safe!  Volunteer and Change the world!

Related articles

• Architecture for Humanity Announces Completion of Haiti Initiatives

Update on Ebola Payments

English: Countries where Médecins Sans Frontières has Missions. Data from http://www.msf.org/ of the year 2009 Nederlands: Landen waar Artsen zonder Grenzen actief is. Gegevens van http://www.msf.org/ over het jaar 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Finished making the latest round of   payments today to groups working to help those affected by Ebola from our  #EndEbola leaf raking project.

Donations.  $1,870 raised.
Payments to date: $1792.


Donations that have been made:  $980 to CYC Liberia, $250 to Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), $200 to Partners In Health,  $100 to  Medicus Christi, Ltd. , $100 to Catholic Relief Services , and  $100 to  CitiHope International.

Total raised to date: $1,870.  Total paid out:  $1730 + Western Union fees: $62 = $1,792.   (BonaResponds donated the gas and the rakes--including two that were broken on the event).


So currently have $78 left from the program and we expect to use this for the CYC orphanage in Monrovia.  Soon.  THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED IN ANYWAY-from raking to donating, to even spreading the word!

Update: after posting this we do have another donation coming in.  Will post it when we receive it.  

Related articles

• Chinese team arrives in Liberia to man Ebola clinic
• Update III on #EndEboa
• Liberian priest: Spread of Ebola leaving people trapped
• Ebola Was Here

Fast (semi fast) top ten update list

Never enough time to get the word out on everything.  But here goes:


BR update: top ten list on many fronts:

1. 1. It is another Hilbert weekend, so only going out on Sunday--get your school work caught up on Saturday!   (Sun 11:15: dress warm!!!)  Job includes more steps installed and likely some winterization.  Also, MAYBE helping clean out a storage area in Allegany County that has water damage.  Stay tuned. 
2. Remember the donation for Haiti from the recent graduate a few weeks ago?  It was sent out and allowed a larger garden and reforestation program in Gonaives, teachers at a school in Leogane to be paid, and teachers at an Orphanage in Laschobas to be paid.  It also is allowing them to think now about composting toilets that will be great!!!
3. Money was transferred twice to West Africa for our partners there.  Like in other past situations (From MS to OK to NY to Haiti), there are so many needs remaining.  The $1762 we raised has been (or will be very shortly) all been allocated and dispersed.  If you would like to continue helping, fund raisers will be needed.  It is as simple as that.   
4. Several jobs have been on our to-do list for months but for one reason or the other keep getting pushed back.  With the winter, unfortunately, here, it looks like a few of the jobs (painting) will have to wait until Spring/summer.  The lack of volunteers and a larger leadership pool does have a cost. Sorry to those who are waiting.  
5. The lack of fundraising will also mean that we will not be able to do a food packing event this spring.  
6. Our International Service Weekend (we ask people wherever they are to go and do some service from cleaning up a park to painting a school, etc) date this spring is April 11-12.  This is the weekend AFTER Easter.  Start planning your projects! More information soon!
7. Locally, I was speaking with a teacher this past week who was saying some of her students have no books at home.  One girl in particular was so happy when she had one book.  So from now until December 1, we will be collecting books!  We are willing to work with any group already doing this, but I did promise the one teacher that we would get at least two books for each of her 25 students (K-6).  
8. A dozen WarmSnugglyBlankets were given out this week.  A big thank you to the Pink Pumpkin Project for including our blankets in their care packages!  Also, a big Thank-You to the St. Johns 9th grade Religious Education program for helping to make blankets!  (thanks Ann!)
9. HaitiScholarships is happy to be working with a JMC class (thanks Shelly!) to help bolster our fundraising and media presence.  I take full blame for HaitiScholarship not truly blooming, as it has the potential to be huge and is still very much still in a start-up mode.  We have a board meeting this Sunday evening, so if you have any good ideas for us (or want to make a donation to put more Haitian students in school), please let us know!
10. A reminder with Christmas shopping coming up, if you are shopping online, go to GoodShop.com and select BonaResponds as your charity and we will get a small amount of each sale.

Thanks everyone!!

jim

Related articles

• Siena College hosts event to support Haitian orphans

Update III on #EndEboa

As promised, another update: 

Total pledged: $1712 

We sent the first $500 via Western Union (cost $20) this week and it was picked up today in Monrovia Liberia by Bishop Nelson.  It will be used to help CYC there feed orphans and others affected by Ebola.   This is a big win!  :)

This weekend $250 more will be sent to Doctors Without Boarders, $150 to Partners in Heath, $100 each to Catholic Relief Services and Medicuschristi.   

After that, we will send the rest by the end of the coming week. 

A few pledges have yet to be received, so if we raked your leaves (or other work the past two weekends) or if you just want to give to help those on the front lines of Ebola, now is the time. You can donate via http://BonaResponds.org BUT SINCE I WILL NOT KNOW FOR A WEEK, PLEASE reply as well so we can send the rest of the money this weekend.  (THANKS!) 

We looked into sending CYC and BR shirts as they have wished, but UPS was WAY too expensive (about $300 for a few shirts), so we will look for other ways, or just not send them. 

Pictures and more of the project are available here: 

http://bonaresponds.blogspot.com/2014/10/update-on-our-endebola-project.html

Turn up your volume:  

I will leave you with an audio thank you/update from Bishop Nelson himself:

https://soundcloud.com/jim-mahar-1/bishop-nelson-thank-you  

(the audio gets better after about the first 1/3)

THANK You again everyone!

jim 

Update on our #EndEbola project

Médecins Sans Frontières logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An update on our #EndEbola fundraiser:

Last week we raised a total of $757 and CYC raised $300.  This weekend (Halloween Weekend) will be the last before we send the money.  We have several jobs lined up so we need volunteers!    We are still hoping for $1500, but we can't do it without you!

CYC group in Dolo Town, Liberia,  Africa 

If you would still like your leaves raked still (new minimum $50 donation--we learned our lesson) please submit job at BonaResponds.org.

To volunteer: rain or shine: 10:30 on Sat and 11:15 on Sunday by the lower parking lot by the baseball field at St. Bonaventure University.


The money will go to some of the following.  You can also donate directly to them.  We will be sending the money on Sunday, so PLEASE contact us ASAP.



Groups we recommend:
1. Doctors Without Borders
2. Partners in Health
3. Catholic Relief Services:
4. UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
5. http://medicuschristi.com/ a group run by a Siena Graduate
6. CitiHope: a group we have worked with in the past and hope to again!
7. CYC of Liberia (which runs service programs and children camps and are getting many additional orphans)


Here are over 60 pictures of the work last week: 

Over 15 volunteers made this large pile of leaves to help #EndEbola

Bishop Nelson and the CYC crew in Liberia sent along the following (I am combining a few messages): 

"There are new outbreak in rural area/ hour counties. 
We already a jeep with " BonaResonds/CYC-USA written on it, Please send some Tshirt by DHL... we also need a used laptop to do quality documentation and on time.
Please Brother. We need a training of trainers workshop. Try to do your best for your present in Liberia. we working on the website, it will soon be ready BUT if can help me to build, DO.

"There is a need to put all we have into the upcoming generation, theyouth, and the kids for a happy generation to come. All they have isthat which was giving to them.
Now that we are fighting Ebola together, let us save lives now,tomorrow will be too late for a soul.
These pictures were from the assessment in Dolo Town by the CYC EBOLA task force inLiberia. "

Bishop Nelson S. Boegbah"

 

 

 


Update: 11:30 AMEastern October 31, 2014:

We send the following update to those who donated to our efforts.  In an effort for total transparency, here is the email:

"Thank you to all of you who volunteered and to those who donated to have the leaves done. 

In conjunction with CYC, we have done 16 jobs so far!   Thank you to all involved!

Financially the program was a moderate success. We will likely not make our $2500 goal.  To date: 

CYC in Machias  3 jobs at $100 each

BonaResponds 12 jobs (donations ranged from $7 to $100).  

As of right now we are at $1057.  So it will go in the "better not perfect" category. But the $1000 (plus we have a pledge for another $200 to be collected from one job this coming weekend) makes it a good effort by all and will definitely help! 

We do have a few jobs left this weekend, so we'd love to have you volunteer again with us!  10:30 Sat, 11:15 on Sunday.  

The CYC group in Liberia is particularly happy about your efforts and Bishop Nelson has personally asked me to let you all know that he is praying for you and wishes you all a sincere Thank You for your efforts and donations.  You can read more from him (and see pictures from their assessment in Dolo Town Liberia at 

http://bonaresponds.blogspot.com/2014/10/update-on-our-endebola-project.html

thank you all again!

jim"

Media coverage of our #EndEbola Campaign

A fast look at some of the media coverage of our #EndEbola campaign


From the BV by Julia:

"BonaResponds began a campaign this week to raise awareness for the fight against Ebola. The group will also raise money for the organizations fighting the disease and dealing with its consequences.The campaign encourages volunteers to help rake leaves in the surrounding community. Community members who choose to have their lawns raked are asked to donate to an organization fighting Ebola....
“Suffering anywhere is suffering everywhere. I see no distinction in helping the person down the block and the person around the world except for the costs involved,” Jim Mahar, advisor of BonaResponds, said.

http://www.thebvnewspaper.com/2014/10/23/ebb-out-ebola/


From the Olean Times Herald:

"....spread this campaign by telling friends and using the hashtag #endebola on their social media profiles. BonaResponds hopes this campaign will grow into something bigger by making it a challenge, reminiscent of the recently popular “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.”Volunteers can challenge others to raise $100 for the cause or donate $10 themselves.
... because the disease is affecting such a poor part of the world, it is especially difficult to treat."

http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/article_b9664622-5ad2-11e4-aad2-0779fdc3c4d5.html


From Time Warner Cable News Buffalo

"...if you go to BonaResponds.org they can sign up if they want their lawn mowed, or raked or anything that they want done, they can describe the job and then they can decide if they are going to make a donation to whichever group their doing it to, "

http://buffalo.twcnews.com/content/news/779704/bonaresponds-and-christian-youth-corps-team-up-to-fight-ebola/

Related articles

• Help #EndEbola!
• You can make a difference!
• More UK troops to tackle Ebola in Sierra Leone

Some pictures from Liberia

The CYC crew in Liberia did an assessment yesterday of the area around Dolo Town.

Their take-aways:

1. Even after the crisis ends, many new orphans will need help for years.  
2. People in most areas are getting the message of how Ebola is spread.
3. By their estimates for the area they surveyed (an area heavily affected) 42% of homes lost someone (or a relative--so this could be a high estimate).
4. 1/7 of the children they dealt with are now orphaned (realize Liberia has recently had a major civil war and is a very poor area to begin with, many of the children did not have both parents to start--we do not want to overplay the deaths from Ebola).
5. They need money for more protective suits, chlorine bleach, and food.  They said a few times that food is becoming an issue as transport has slowed. 

 Here are a few of the pictures they sent:

Pictures courtesy of Bishop Nelson Sampson Boegbah