Easter challenge and beyond

Wade examining one of St. Vincent's students

When we visited St. Vincent's in mid March, 2011, many of the children complained of abdominal pain during their examination. It didn't take the physicians long to determine that they were not sick—but hungry. Many were very thin and underweight, although they didn't display some of the tell-tale signs of malnourishment, such as the tips of their hair being red instead of black. We trust that it is because of the arsenal of vitamins at St. Vincent's clinic being distributed on a daily basis that is helping in this manner. However, it is very disturbing to see these children suffering from something as vital as insufficient food.

As a result of the earthquake, essential funding for St. Vincent's program was lost. Unfortunately, this has come with a high price for the 185 children in their care, 90 of which live at St. Vincent's. Hard decisions have to be made, such as:

• Do we buy water or food for the students today?
• How many times can we afford to feed them all this week?

It is with this in mind that we have reached out to many of our large donors and organizations that have supported our programs in the past.

Recently, The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Washington state) has taken up this cause and partnered with us to feed St. Vincent's children. The Diocese of Olympia has challenged the Diocese of Louisiana to have every member of their respective organizations donate $10 to buy food for St. Vincent's.

Ten dollars can make a world of difference to these children. $10 will feed 1 child for 2 weeks, a minimum of 2 meals per day. Who would have thought that for the price of 2 or 3 gourmet coffees that you could feed a child in Haiti for 2 weeks. What a blessing to be able to give so little and make such a huge impact on a child!

Today, we challenge you to do the same.

We ask you to consider sponsoring one of these precious children for two weeks, a month or a year. For the price of a few runs through your favorite drive-thru, you can provide 2 or meals per day for a child for an extended period of time.

• $10 - 2 weeks of food for a child
• $20 - 1 month of food for a child
• $240 - 1 year of food for a child
• $3500 - 1 month of food for all 185 children

Please contact The Red Thread Promise to make your pledge today. You can use our PayPal link above for a one-time gift. If you are interested in sponsoring a child for an extended period of time, please contact Kathy by email at kathy@redthreadpromise.org or call 817.320.6522.

Thank you!