By Lindsay Doty
Photo by Rick Myers
For 23 years, St. Malachy Catholic Church in Brownsburg has been providing support for families at Ste. Marguerite in Port Margot, Haiti.
Local efforts started by missionaries Sheila and Paul Zielinski have evolved into the Help for Haiti: Walk, Run, Ride taking place on May 11 on the church campus in Brownsburg.
Participates can decide if they want to take a leisurely stroll, run a 5K or take a 9, 25 or 45-mile bike ride.
Registration is $30 per person. Ages five and under are free.
While many Hendricks County residents may never visit Haiti, their efforts go a long way in a country that has faced poverty and natural disasters. Proceeds go towards medical care, education and clean water programs through a faith-based partnership.
Since 1996, the St. Malachy Haiti mission has been working with the Ste. Marguerite Parish and community in Port Margot to make improvements in health care. Thanks to local mission trips and volunteers, a small medical clinic was built in 2002 to care for the community of over 50,000 people.
The mission helps fund salaries for medical staff in the clinic and treatments for common issues like malnutrition and Cholera. Funds also support maternity care for women and children.
“Our dedicated group of volunteer doctors, nurses, students and others who have shared their talents for many years, have not only volunteered their time and talent, but they have also built and substantially funded the cost of a health clinic,” event co-chair Tom Farris said. “I strongly believe in the mission because the core objectives help serve and an area of the world that needs our help.”
You don’t have to be a church member to participate in the Help for Haiti event. Online registration is open until May 10.
Sign up at secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=131506
Participants may also register at the event.
Lunch is included with each registration and will be served from 10:30 a.m.to 12 p.m. There will also be a silent auction.
Haiti Walk-Run-Ride
St. Malachy Catholic Church
9833 east County Road 750N, Brownsburg
May 11
The 45-mile bike ride starts at 8:30 a.m.
Walk, run and other rides start at 9 a.m.
$30 per person.
Children 5 and under are free.
Sign in starts at 8 a.m.