Spring Break & Summer Trips

Hello, everyone! We are super excited to announce the awesome trips we have going this summer (and this spring break, meaning in a week!)

We have a team of 18 (11 from Lakeland and 7 from The Crossing Church) heading down March 13-18.

There will be 2 CPI-Lakeland trips this summer along with a CPI-Clermont trip.

Trip 1, CPI-First Presbyterian: July 3-10
Trip 2, CPI General: July 9-16
Trip 3, CPI-Clermont: July 16-23

We will be limiting the teams to 15.
The cost of the trips is $1,200.

We will be having a meeting on March 6th after the morning service in the youth hall for people interested in the FPC trip. FPC is a church partner with CPI and therefore we devote at least 1 trip each year to FPC attenders. We’ll know after the meeting on the 6th how many spots on Trip 1 will be available to non-FPC attenders.

Please let me know ASAP which trip you would be most interested in.

• Call: Kenny – 863-698-4352/ Grant: 561-247-2686
• E-mail: ellis.kenny@gmail.com/ grant.nieddu@gmail.com
• Connect form.

The projects for each trip will be determined by how much $$ we can raise between now and then and the assessment of greatest need as we come back from the Spring Break trip.

Ok, so tell your friends, family, and the pets you like most to get ready for an awesome transformational trip this summer.

Gratefully,

The CPI Haiti Team

Kenny Ellis
Grant R. Nieddu
And the AWESOME CPI Team Family

We just wanted to let you know that we now have a “Title Sponsor” for the Hope for Haiti 5K:

This comes by way of Caylyn and Lisa Gilbert being willing to do the “ask” and following up. Way to go!

We know everyone is busy out there putting up flyers, talking it up on Facebook, spreading the word and hopefully talking to event sponsors. We have heard the buzz and been encouraged by how many people know what we are up to already. Keep it up!

If you have not approached a potential event sponsor yet…now is the time. We are thrilled with the news about Mid-Florida, but for us to reach our goal we have to have an additional 40 sponsors coming in at the $250 level (or some equivalent at other levels). December will be here and gone before we know it – so let’s do the “ask” and see what God does.

Have you been to the 5K page on our site? Check it out: http://cpihaiti.org/hope-5k/

Also coming up in the next 10 days:
Donate Your Christmas Campaign
Heroes of Hope Web Tools

Kudos again to Lisa and Caylyn! Go team! Have a great Thanksgiving!

GRATEFUL

First, we want to thank everyone for the continued prayer, phone calls, text messages, e-mails, networking, and fundraising that has occurred in the last 24 hours. We have been astounded at the immense support and encouragement that we have received.

The CPI GUYS’ RESPONSE

Second, we have been wrestling over how to respond to the extreme devastation in Haiti. Waiting for information from our Haitian partners has been nail-biting. We still have no information about the health of our friends in Chauffard, the safety of our friends in Port-au-Prince, or the condition of the new building in Chauffard.

It has been on the calendar for a survey and expansion trip with Personal Partners in late February or early March. Obviously the shifting of the land has shifted our priorities for the next 60 days.

To handle the many requests for immediate emergency support, we have set up our Earthquake Emergency Relief fund. This will help with our aggressive reconstruction and damage assessment efforts over the next 60 days. This will be immediately followed with preparations for a massive reconstruction and recovery effort over the summer with our current partners, The Crossing, and our new partnership with FPC-Vine here in Lakeland.

This is a restricted fund used solely for Earthquake Reconstruction & Restoration.  Please find out more and donate here.

HEEDING THE REQUEST OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE ORGANIZATIONS

1.  Jonathan Capre, who leads the CIM network of churches and schools in Haiti, will be traveling to Haiti as soon as it is feasible to assess how the people of CIM have been affected by the earthquake.  We have 4 CIM churches and schools that are in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas.  Jonathan will be our hands and heart to these folks until we can be there. He will also be able to assess the roadways and transportation options available for teams to travel to Chauffard in the next 6-8 weeks.

2. To ensure that our friends and partners can participate in our efforts, we have set up our Earthquake Emergency Relief fund. This will enable us to send a small team (as soon as it is feasible) to deliver supplies and assess the long term needs in the CIM communities where we work.  This assessment will help us plan for late Spring and Summer projects with our current partners, The Crossing Church, and our new partnership with FPC-Vine here in Lakeland.

The CPI Guys and our partners are committed to this reconstruction and recovery, especially in the rural and outlying areas where aide and support are unlikely to reach for many months. You can help instantly by donating, joining our team in the spring, or, if you are a medical or search-and-rescue professional, please see The Red Cross.

Thank You so much for all you have done. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Most Passionately,

The CPI Guys

Kenny Ellis &

Grant Nieddu

on behalf of our Haitian friends and partners who still wait breathlessly to hear from.

Hello CPI Friends and Fellow World Changers! Here is the update on what we are up to:

• The CPI Guys are working on a high-impact calendar for 2010 with several Transforming Travel Trips, awareness projects (local work that YOU can get involved with), and cranking out some signature CPI Guys videos and articles.
• CPI and The Crossing Church will be heading back to Chauffard, Haiti in December for a week long project including pastor training, food distribution, children’s classes and strengthening friendships!
• Elizabeth Carpenter committed to using her first marathon ever, the Gasparilla Marathon, to raise awareness for our cause. She has also created an amazing CPI Calendar for 2010 – more on that later!
• A new CPI Partner, Brian Morgan, will be joining Kenny on the December trip to experience Haiti for the first time and explore ways that he can make a difference.
• CPI will be hosting a week long project trip for Vine-First Presbyterian Church in the summer of 2010.
• Awareness is growing! Our Facebook Cause has 333 followers and growing. You can have your friends join here www.causes.com/cpihaiti, or by going to our website and signing up for our updates!
• Our new CPI Prayer Team is focused on a list of ongoing challenges and opportunities.
• We have also added a new page to the Education section, ‘Exponential Growth by Incremental Work’, by Grant.

Wow – that is exciting stuff! Real people making a real difference – here and in Haiti…that’s what we are all about!

Feel free to contact us to find your unique place in the mission!

Kenny and Grant
The CPI Guys
www.cpihaiti.org
www.twitter.com/cpihaiti
www.causes.com/cpihaiti (Facebook Cause)