A Year of THANKS and Blessings! In spite of challenges caused by four consecutive hurricanes, hungry children, soaring food prices, and washed out roads (to name only a few) -- the Haiti Project offers joyous thanks this year, and we begin by thanking YOU!

Last April Bishop Miller asked YOU to help with an emergency food drive, and YOU answered! Together, we raised nearly $23,000.

Glorious Breadfruit

Breadfruit - same size as grapefruit, tough outer shells, starchy interiors.

With rampant food shortages, it’s important to harvest food from ALL available sources in Haiti and implement a process of sustainability.

One valuable source is Breadfruit - one of the highest-yielding food plants on earth- a single tree produces 200 fruit per season. Although plentiful and nutritious -- it's high in vitamin C, fiber and potassium-- the starchy fruit spoils quickly, and a system is needed to convert it into long term storage: FLOUR [a process invented by engineering students at St. Thomas University in St. Paul].

Turning 70% water breadfruit into flour requires peeling tough outer shells, quartering, shredding, drying shreds then pulverizing with a large, manual coffee grinder to become flour -- a state that can be stored for months.

In July, Christophe Nicaise from the The Haiti Project purchased 2 shredders & a grinder and transported them to Haiti where he organized training. They ground so much fruit, they used the rooftop of the school for drying. Since July, our Haitian partners have experimented with drying and shredding carrots [they turn black] and bananas [it works].

Three weeks ago, Dr. Melanie Stewart and Mary Alice Eschweiler traveled to Haiti to Celebrate Enel Joseph's and Rodolphe Eloi's 20 years of service! Enel is a 4th-grade teacher at St. Marc's School and Eloi is the school administrator.

We are grateful for their kindness, dedication, expertise and genuine love that they have shown their community, their country, this project!

The surprise party celebration included a prayer ceremony followed by a spectacular meal of rice & beans, plantain, chicken, salad and an enormous cake.

Bless you and thanks for all that you do! Enel Joseph and Rodolphe Eloi with their adorable families.

Cock-a-Doodle-Do [that's Thanks in Rooster] Finally, we at the Haiti Project are Thankful for your support in the launching of our Singing Rooster Coffee project - couldn't have done it without you!

We've sold out of our first batch of coffee.