Religion: Helping Haiti’s children

Miss Vivian is flying to Colorado Springs from Haiti to cook for “the babies’ sake.”

Her authentic Haitian food will be the fare at a fundraising dinner Aug. 24 to help orphans at a Christian mission in that poverty-drenched country.

“She’s bringing her spices and will instruct the caterers,” says Jean Bell, U.S. coordinator for God’s Littlest Angels, a nonprofit with a Haitian orphanage where Miss Vivian helps cook for the kids.

Proceeds will help build an addition to the facility, a project that’s getting help from Colorado Springs-based Engineering Ministries International.

Entertainment at the fundraiser will be provided by the Luke Ham Sandwich Family Band of Longmont, which specializes in bluegrass music and Texas-style fiddling. The band consists of Del and Debbie Lukasiewicz’s five biological children and three they adopted from Haiti. They see their music as their Christian ministry.

“We went to Haiti to help. There is so much poverty there. We like to joke that there were no souvenirs so we adopted three children,” Debbie Lukasiewicz says with a laugh.

Their youngest was adopted from God’s Littlest Angels, which she lauds for its work.

“There is a huge need,” she says.

Bell, a Colorado Springs nurse, also saw that need. She became involved with God’s Littlest Angels when she started helping her nephew John Bickel and his wife, Dixie, who had been doing missionary work in Haiti since 1991. At first Bell sent them formula, feeding tubes and medicines for the first babies they rescued, including one who weighed less than 2 pounds. She now coordinates adoptions and fundraising and finds volunteers who spend a week or two at the orphanage. Recently, a Florida church group called the Rocking Grandmas and Grandpas helped care for the orphanage babies for a week, she says.

Haiti has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the Western Hemisphere and has few facilities to care for premature infants, Bell says. Doctors and clinics refer babies in need of intensive nursing care and nutritional support to God’s Littlest Angels. Nearly 200 children live at the orphanage. Four hundred children have found homes since its inception. So far this year, 75 of its children have been adopted.

Kari and Jeff Stewart of Loveland adopted 7-year-old Luke from GLA four years ago.

“When he first arrived at age 3, he couldn’t believe that he would have his own bed,” says Kari, who has three biological children and five other adopted children. “God’s Littlest Angels is phenomenal. They helped us through it all. They are so dedicated, and there is such a need for that.”

It’s not just Bell who is helping to meet that need. Her husband, Steve, a barber, and their three kids have volunteered at the mission through the years. Bell has been to Haiti 17 times to deliver supplies.

“We do this because the (Haitian) children will die if we don’t take care of them,” Bell says.

DETAILS

What: Fundraising dinner for God’s Littlest Angels, a Haitian orphanage.

When: Friday. Starts at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction of locally donated items and handcrafted items from Haiti. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Sunrise United Methodist Church, 4005 Lee Vance View.

Cost: $30. Tickets must be purchased in advance by calling 638-4348 or e-mailing jean@glahaiti.org.