We have 9 new students from the Cornerstone School who are ready for sponsorship!!  We have picked some of our hardest working students and we are excited to share them with you.

For just $30 a month, you can provide a sponsor child with an education and daily meal.  The process to sponsor a child is easy and convenient.  You can email Jennie Ellis at jensellis624@gmail.com or call at (863) 860-5084.  We will walk through a 5 minute set up process and within 7 days you will receive a picture magnet and sponsorship notebook telling you all about our program.  Will you take a few minutes and join the movement to change a village and a school one child at a time? 

You can click on this link to view the students and their profiles:  Children’s Pictures and Profiles

  Picture with me….it is a Monday morning and 180 students show up as they always do to Cornerstone School, a free school in rural Haiti.  They have spent the last 3 years crammed in a one room building smaller than most American bathrooms, then in an open air facility where it rains 9 months of the year, and finally in the building you see here but all of them are in one big room with 6 classes going on simultaneously….but on this particular morning CPI has completed a second floor of this building and they have their first VERY OWN CLASSROOM!  None of these children have ever stepped foot in a real classroom.  Can you imagine the squeals and cheers coming from the students?  I can personally only imagine it.

But you have the opportunity to make this dream come true.  We are so close to the goal of the second story of the community center becoming a reality.  We only need $3,000 to ship the remaining building supplies.  That is so attainable!!  Can you help? Would you consider giving?  Would you be willing to have a small fundraiser as a family like a bake sale or car wash to help us with this last bit we need to make this reality come true for 180 students who desperately need a classroom in order to really focus and learn?

As if that was not already imagination overload, can you now try to picture the first EVER secondary school in the whole region meeting in those classrooms in the afternoons?  And…..(probably the part that really gets me excited out of my mind)….reading and writing classes for the adults who are almost all illiterate?  If they can read and write they can help their children withe schoolwork, read the Scriptures, and be able to make business transactions without getting slighted.

Right now I am hearing the theme song for Rocky playing in the background and going through my head are the words “GAME ON! WE GOT THIS!!”

Please consider giving- you can conveniently click on the “donate” tab on this site or mail your tax deductible gift to CPI 530 Bonnie Drive Lakeland, FL 33803

In the precious words of Mother Teresa, “I belong to Jesus.  He must have the right to use me without consulting me.”

The second annual Hope for Haiti 5K is over and the results are in… together, we raised $7,500 net profit for our Community Center Project! Way to go team! We also had two children sponsored at the event.

Although so many of you have been a part of making this event happen, I wanted to mention a few noteworthy contributions by our team members:

The first floor of the Chauffard Community Center is almost complete and it is time to finish what we have started! There is a construction team headed down to put a ceiling on the first floor and build two mission bunk houses for future volunteers. The second floor, which will house classrooms and a library is scheduled to be completed in March. So far, we have raised $70,000 towards this project,but we are still in need of the final $20,000 to complete the building next year. This is where you come in!

We have two events coming up to raise support for the people of Chauffard, and we would love for you to be involved!

World Record Event

When: Thursday, Novemeber 17, 2011 at 6:00pm

Where: The Center for Health, Fitness and Sports Performance  (Hilton Head Island, SC) map

Yvette Carrigan, a current partner in the CPI Child Sponsorship Program, is creating a world record for number of bodyweight squats while balancing on an exercise ball. She hopes to raise money and awareness for CPI’s work in Haiti! In past events she has reached over 300 squats, but she is aiming for much higher in her attempts to set a world record.

We will have information about our Child Sponsorship Program as well as our Community Center Building Project at the event. If you are interested in sponsoring her (per squat) through donating to our building program please contact us!

2nd Annual Hope for Haiti 5K Run & Walk

When: Saturday, January 28, 2012 (Registration at 6:30am and Race at 8:00am)

Where: First Presbyterian Church on Lake Hollingsworth (Lakeland, FL) map

Last year’s Hope for Haiti 5K was a huge success with over 250 registered racers! We raised the first $10,000 for our building project through our wonderful racers and sponsors! With this money and the help of Bartow Ford we were able to purchase a truck that has proven to be an invaluable asset to the building process over the past few months. This year, we intend to raise the rest of money need to finish the Chauffard Community Center and we need your help! We need sponsors, runners, advertising volunteers, and race-day volunteers. If you are interested in supporting in any of these ways, please contact us.

All of CPI’s work in Haiti is made possible through supporters like you and here is your opportunity to be involved! We hope to hear form you soon!

The CPI Guys and Gals

Our Clermont partners have blessed the people of Chauffard again by sponsoring 12 students through the CPI Child Sponsorship Program. This church has been a committed partner to CPI and the village of Chauffard for the past few years. The Crossing Church continues to donate time and energy towards the long-term vision of sustainable development through building relationships and sharing resources. Because this congregation travels to Haiti about 2 times a year, they have built relationships with the people in the village that will last for years to come.

Three months ago, during their last trip into the mountainous region of Chauffard, they completed several projects and programs that greatly impacted our Haitian brothers and sisters. Pastor Kendal led a pastoral conference where four churches came together to grow in the knowledge of the Word, while Nurse Troyce was able to give deworming medication to every child that came to her clinic. In addition, the group conducted VBS and english classes throughout the week to satisfy the children’s hunger for learning and education.

We cannot begin to thank The Crossing Church enough for their prayers and partnership over the years, and we look forward to our future together. If you live in the Clermont/Orlando area and are looking for a passionate and loving church to get plugged into, check out them out this Sunday!

- The CPI Guys and Gals

Sponsorship Note: The Crossing Church sponsored the last 12 students that we have at the moment. Jennie and Marissa will gather information for the next 25 students during the October 20-24 trip.  If you wish to sponsor a child, please check back the last week in October, or contact us to sign up now and be the first to pick your student!

It’s that time of year again! The summer trips this year were a huge success and now it is time to move on with state-side work. If you are in the Lakeland area and have been involved or wanted to be involved in CPI’s work in Haiti, then this is your time!

Over CPI’s last four years working in the village of Chauffard, we have been able to build relationships with the locals and bring short-term aid. The Chauffard Community Center Project is the birth-child of  a combined long-term development vision that we share with the people of this village and we are excited to see the effects that this building will have over future generations.

Last year at this time, we began fundraising to start this project for the people of Chauffard.  The center will be used by a school, a church, in addition to providing adult education, water catchment, medical services, and more.

We are pleased to announce that CPI has received a donation to build the first floor, which is now under construction! JeanClaude will be constructing the first floor out of concrete and block, and hopefully completing this task by time our December team arrives. CPI volunteers will then build the roof of the first floor and the entire second floor out of wood. The plan is for the center to be completed at the end of our March trip.

Our efforts are now focused on raising support to build the second floor and two mission bunkhouses. We need your help! In order to complete the second floor, we need monetary and material donations, as well as volunteers to assist in the construction process. Contact us if you have a desire be apart of enriching the lives of our Haitian partners!

The CPI Guys and Gals

An Explosive Event

Thank you, everyone, for all of your support this past Saturday! The first annual Hope for Haiti 5k Run and Walk was a smashing success.

Over 228 racers. Over 270 people made a personal statement that they support the work for Chauffard, Haiti and CPI’s Haitian friends who live there.

Take a second to let our sponsors know how much you appreciate their support. Congratulations to all of our Heroes of Hope who helped raise above and beyond their registration fee, which was a huge help for our Haitian friends.

Get Haiti 5k Photos Here

Check out all of the awesome photos, provided by Nate Mundell, here: CPI Haiti – Hope for Haiti 5k Run and Walk Photos.

Watch for Updates

The Hope for Haiti 5k Race is planned for being an annual event. Be sure to watch your e-mail for updates on the results from this year, updates from our progress in the field, as well as plans for next year’s awesome race!

We’re Headed Back to Finish What We Started

As you know, our team was unable to rebuild the homes in July due to red-tape and corruption in the port.

However, Jonathan worked diligently to get our supplies out of the port and we have been preparing to return to Haiti with a small team to build the homes. Our team will be in Haiti next week (October 7-10).

Our plan is to complete at least 1 home while teaching the locals how they are constructed. With the newly acquired skills and a model to refer back to, they will then be able to use all the materials to complete the remaining homes.

Here is our team:

Jonathan Capre (Haiti Team Leader)
John Foley
JJ Smith
Leah Higginbotham
Shawn Maguire
Bobby Brigman
Kenny Ellis

In addition we will be delivering the school uniforms and supply packets that many of you helped provide for the children in our free school.

As always, we plan on coming back with pictures and stories of another step forward in our mission. Until then, please keep us in your prayers.

There are over 50 children in the free school  in Chauffard, Haiti who  come every day to learn  and prepare for their  future.  The families of  these children are  responsible to provide at least one uniform for their  child to wear to school.

Although this seems like a small expense to us here in the U.S., it is a significant expense for the Chauffard families.

Our CPI team is working on the long-term challenges of the school and have some HUGE goals for 2011 (more to come later).  However, for now we thought we would invite our friends and partners to help us provide uniforms for the children who need them.

If you would like to provide a uniform for one of the children, the cost is $20 and includes shorts and shirt.

The uniforms will be delivered by the CPI team when they go to Chauffard in October.

Simply click on the “Donating” tab above and select the “Set Your Own Amount – One Time” button and follow the prompts.

The deadline for donating towards the uniforms is September 5th.

Thanks for your partnership!

The CPI Team