The Lenten season offers us a special opportunity to focus on what Jesus Christ teaches us and to renew our spiritual and Christian life at St. Clement’s. Appropriately, part of that is renewing our commitment to care for and serve people in need in our neighbourhood, country, and around the world. Each Sunday in Lent, we are highlighting one of the five areas that St. Clement’s Outreach Ministry supports through your generous giving. We ask that you prayerfully consider how you might support one or more of these areas in 2023.
The average Haitian has an 8th grade education or less.
For women, this can be as low as half.
For more than 30 years, St. Clement’s has provided funds to cover scholarships for students at the Ecole Saint-Barthélémy in Terrier Rouge, Haiti. St. Barthélémy provides a quality education to more than 1,000 children each year and many graduates score higher than 90% on their national exams. While attending St. Barthélémy children are provided with other basic needs, a hot meal daily and access to free healthcare, which is often not accessible to the average Haitian.
St. Barthélémy is a modern facility that has clean water, sanitation, electricity and internet access, providing a safe healthy environment for children to learn. It also plays an important role in the economy of the Terrier Rouge community. The school employs almost 100 teachers, cooks and staff, providing stable jobs and income for people from the surrounding area.
In 2022, the civil unrest and violence that the country experienced caused many difficulties for the population, with road blockages, business closures, and shortages in basic supplies. St. Barthélémy is providing the building blocks for a stronger community. Our contributions to student scholarships give hope to the children through education and they help empower Haitians to strengthen their own country. St. Clement’s Outreach has committed to provide a minimum of 50 scholarships annually at $300 USD each for students attending classes, from pre-K to grade 13. This year, the impact of your donations for Haiti Scholarships during this Lenten Giving Campaign will be doubled, as a generous family from our community is providing up to $10,000 in matching funds.
Donations to Haiti: Empowering through Education, or any of the 2023 Lenten Giving causes, can be made through the Donate page at stclementsto.ca/donate, the CanadaHelps website canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-church-of-st-clement-eglinton/ or cash, cheque, credit card, placed on the collection plate, in the mail, or dropped off at the church. Please ensure you indicate the weekly Lenten cause that you are supporting with your donation or if you are choosing to give to the General Outreach program. For more information please pick up the 2023 Lenten Giving brochure from the Welcome Hub or email outreach@stclementsto.ca
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