St. Augustine Catholic Church is accepting donations for the Hot as Haiti Yard Sale beginning July 10 in the Parish Life Center.
American Haitian Foundation board members and St. Augustine Catholic Church parishioners Allen Vessels, Betty Miles, Joanne Denise and AHF Executive Director Jack Davidson, from left, request that community members begin donating items July 10 for the Hot as Haiti Yard Sale."The Hot as Haiti Yard Sale makes up 40 percent of the American Haitian Foundation budget," said AHF Executive Director Jack Davidson, a parishioner at St. Augustine. "Last year we raised $45,000. We fund the St. Antoine-St. Augustine Complex of Education in Haiti."
Davidson said money raised at the sale pays teachers, feeds children and buys school supplies and uniforms for 1,000 students in Haiti.
The Hot as Haiti pre-sale is July 29-31 at St. Augustine and the highway sale will be Aug. 3-6 at Price Rite.
"We take anything that works and that someone else might purchase," said AHF board member Allen Vessels. "We need a lot of items to make it work. You can't get any greener than recycling your stuff at a yard sale."
Donations needed are kitchen and household goods, baby clothes, equipment or supplies, children's toys, sports equipment, games, books, DVDs, videos and music. People can also donate antiques, jewelry, furniture, bicycles, cars, lawnmowers and weed eaters.
St. Augustine is also collecting shoes of all types to take to the students in Haiti.
"It's a great activity of the parish," St. Augustine's the Rev. Joseph Kuzhupil said of the sale. "People are conscious about Christ's teaching and practice. He came to uplift the poor. We should have a place for the poor in the heart."
Vessels said of the 400 St. Augustine parish families, 125 families volunteer to work at the yard sale.
"We have such abundance in this country and people share," said Davidson. "It's Christianity at its best."
The American Haitian Foundation based on Signal Mountain has worked in Haiti for the last 18 years. AHF is working with One Laptop per Child program to bring laptops to the students at St. Antoine-St. Augustine Complex of Education.
The AHF mission is to educate the young to understand there are options through education, good nutrition and dental hygiene. To learn more about the American Haitian Foundation visit www.americanhaitianfoundation.org.