By Jayme Mendenhall

Wendell Brock and Robert Williamson D.D.S. went to Haiti last month to personally deliver the school kits for the children.  Neither of them was prepared to see the intense poverty that prevails there.  Many of the people seem overwhelmed by the destruction the earthquake left. Coupled with the political unrest, there is very little money or incentive to rebuild. Survival reins in most everyone’s mind, and there are as many ideas on how to survive as there are people. Open-air markets line the main streets selling anything and everything that might be of worth to another. There are tent cities complete with Port-a-Potties now where there once were beautiful parks.  It is both a testament of the resiliency of the human spirit as well as a mark of the utter destitution humans can sink too when there is so little hope.

Yet beyond these present difficulties there is one bright spot of hope for Haiti: Haiti’s children. Wendell and Robert got to meet these children as they delivered over 500 school kits to two different schools.  When Wendell and Robert entered their classrooms, the children politely stood up to greet them and waited for their teacher’s cue to sit back down again. The children were very grateful to have the kits as this means they can continue their education.  These children were bright and happy despite their immediate hardships. These children carry with them the faith and hope that is in all children! These children are the future of Haiti!

Just prior to leaving for Haiti, Wendell and Robert received some last minute donations in the form of children’s clothing and about 65-70 dental hygiene kits.  Each dental hygiene kit included a toothbrush, toothpaste and some floss. These much needed items were donated to a boy’s orphanage there in Haiti. A special thanks go out to the local communities where Wendell and Robert live for these last minute contributions.

This project was a huge undertaking! It was made possible with many hands and received with grateful hearts!  CREED wishes to give a special Thank You to all who helped make this happen! 

Wendell Brock - Friday, October 29, 2010
By Jayme Mendenhall

Josh Bagley, of McKinney Texas, decided that for his Eagle Scout project he would put together school kits for CREED.  He began by collecting donations.  He was able to collect about $750 total of gifts in kind and cash. Josh made up a list and budgeted out the expenses; then he went shopping.

While Josh was out shopping for the items, a lady stopped him in the store and asked him about his full shopping cart of school items.  He explained to her his plan for the school kits and his goal of achieving his Eagle Scout award.  Without skipping a beat she said, “I would like to participate and help too!”  She then opened up her wallet and gave him $20 cash on the spot!  Josh thanked her for her kindness and generosity.  The twenty dollars were used to fund two more school kits.

Josh organized over 20 volunteers from the community to help in a massive assembly line.  In less than five hours, from start to finish, the group was able to put together 562 school kits! Not only were the school kits assembled in those five hours, but they were all packaged in boxes and made ready to ship! Those school kits are now on their way to Haiti and Belize.  It was a great experience for him and through his efforts many children will be blessed as they work to gain an education.  We appreciate Josh's leadership and hard work on this project.  Here at CREED we will be looking forward to attending Josh’s Eagle Scout Award ceremony!  

Wendell Brock - Tuesday, March 02, 2010

When a tornado ripped through Iowa’s Little Sioux Scout Ranch in 2008, the area was devastated both geographically and emotionally. Not only did the tornado level a building and destroy a forest, it killed a young Boy Scout named Aaron Eilerts.

In the aftermath of such a tragedy, Iowa Governor Chet Culver created “Aaron Eilerts Day of Service and Giving” on February 24, 2009, which would have been Aaron’s 15th birthday. Each year on this day, schools throughout Iowa are asked to practice the same kindness through service that Aaron had displayed throughout his life.

The Project
This year, with the Haitian earthquake fresh in the minds of students at Hinton Community School, they decided to help their peers in Haiti. An Internet search turned up CREED’s School Kits program, and the students decided to raise money to send kits to Haiti. Calling their project “10x10,” Hinton’s students set out to raise $100, or enough for 10 kits.

Every morning for a week, Student Council members stood in the school’s lobby and collected voluntary donations from students as they arrived at school. By the end, the students had smashed their $100 goal, and raised over $400!

The project was carried out by elementary students— ages six to 11—who saw a need and decided to fill it. CREED is honored to accept their kind donation and forward the school kits to children in Haiti.

The Need
For many children, CREED’s School Kits are the first step to an education. They provide the materials that students must have in order to attend school—materials that are quite simple and total just $10—but for many families are unaffordable or simply unavailable.

Each school kit contains:

• One durable cloth bag with handles and Velcro closure
• Three spiral-bound notebooks totaling about 450 pages of paper
• Four No. 2 pencils
• One pencil sharpener
• One box of 12 colored pencils
• One eraser
• One pair of children’s blunt-nose scissors
• One 12-inch metric ruler

Doing More
Hinton’s good work won’t end with their donation to CREED. In the spring, they will collect donations for the Children’s Miracle Network. In the fall, they will collect food for a local food bank. During the holidays, they will give donated items and wrapped gifts to a needy family in their community. Throughout the year, they help their school in little ways. As Hinton Counselor Mary Daniels says, “My council is very busy!”

For 2009’s Aaron Eilerts Day, Hinton students carried out two community projects: making fleece blankets for animals at the local Humane Society, and creating Sunshine Buckets for senior citizens. “Sunshine Buckets” are sand pails filled with stamps, playing cards, lotion bottles, and other small items to bring a little sunshine to a senior citizen’s day.

What You Can Do
If you’d like to help educate children we are continuing to collect funds for school kits.  We are in the process of helping the children in Haiti and In the near future we will ask for funds to help the children of Chile after the recent massive earthquake in their country.  You can help by following the example of the children of Hinton Community School by making a donation to CREED by clicking on the homepage.

Wendell Brock - Friday, February 12, 2010

When Mohammed Yunus and Grameen Bank won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, micro lending became a household term. Yunus had been giving micro credit for decades, though, making his first loan to Bangladeshi basket weavers in 1974.

The United Nations beat the Nobel Prize committee to the issue by a year, designating 2005 the InternationalYear of Microcredit.

But for any global issue, one year is hardly enough.

The Year of Microcredit’s website says, “The Year will be successful if 2005 is considered one pivotal chapter in the promotion and development of inclusive financial sectors. Considerable follow-up at all levels after the close of the Year will help sustain the momentum achieved by the Year observance.”

While we must have reasonable expectations, the momentum’s still here in 2010. A quick Google search finds that, just this year, micro credit companies have popped up in Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. As well as in the United States, there are several micro finance companies - many are operated as non-profits, likeAccion Texas and the PLAN Fund.

Micro Lending Primer
While terms vary, there are a few guidelines that most lenders follow

• Loans are based on trust rather than collateral
• Loans are paid back in very frequent installments
• Borrowers must join a borrowers’ group for support, advice, and accountability
• Micro lending helps people help themselves.

First-responder Lending
A current Newsweek article sheds light on Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest micro financier. Not only does it assist people in ordinary times, but it is also making disaster-specific loans following the January 12 earthquake.

While Haiti’s traditional banks were (and still are) in ruins, Fonkoze began lending money two weeks after the earthquake.

Because micro finance units know the specific needs of their customers—this is how they do business, with small loans to individuals—they’re better equipped to handle disasters that hit their customers. The Newsweek article asks, “Could microcredit be the new Red Cross?” While it can’t completely replace disaster aid, it can play a part.

“Chemen Lavi Miyo”
Fonkoze’s primary program—which means “the Road to a Better Life”—is micro lending in non-disaster times. A video on their website tells the stories of several women who’ve received micro loans.

A mother of four children says that, before Fonkoze’s loan, “I didn’t even have a chicken. Now I have 18 ducks and chickens and eight goats. I have standing in this community. … For the first time in my life, I have the resources and knowledge to grow food and earn money.”

Micro financing has done much to help the poor improve their lives, but much more still needs to be done.

Wendell Brock - Wednesday, January 27, 2010  

On Friday night, the “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon aired on 11 channels, and in two hours raised $53M, with more donations still coming in. This is a testament to the generosity of Americans.

The money will be distributed to seven charities: the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, UNICEF, American Red Cross,Yele Haiti, World Food Programme, Oxfam America, and Partners in Health. And over the next several months, these charities will provide much-needed food, water, medical care, and other services.

But after the telethons are over, and the resilient people of Haiti have begun to rebuild, their children are going to need an education. So while I admire those who’ve donated money for Haiti’s disaster relief, I am also asking you to support CREED, and make an investment in the future of the Haitian nation.

I ask you to do this without the bright lights of a prime-time telethon. Neither Madonna nor Bono nor Bruce Springsteen will perform and entreat you to donate. If you decide to give money to CREED, Steven Spielberg will not chat you up on the phone after taking your credit card number. But I promise we will not be any less grateful.

Since 2007, CREED has been distributing School Kits in the US and around the world, anywhere there are children who want to learn but lack the tools. Children can’t learn to write if they don’t have a pencil or notebook. Without an eraser, they can’t get rid of a mistake and write the correct answer—which is the learning process. And all it costs is $10.

In a few months we will begin sending our School Kits to Haiti. The 3.5M children of this impoverished island didn’t have much before this disaster, but now they have even less. If they have a school kit, then they will have at least one thing: the opportunity to learn.

Over 50 aftershocks have rattled Haiti in the last two weeks, further damaging the island’s infrastructure. Aftershocks of another type will continue to pummel this nation—temblors that hit at the Haitian psyche and confidence—unless they are empowered to improve lives and their nation. We at CREED believe that education is the way to do this. If you agree, I invite you to join us by clicking on the button below.

Now through February 28, any donations made to Haiti relief can be deducted from 2009 tax filings.

Wendell Brock - Friday, January 15, 2010

On January 13, 2010, a massive earthquake struck the island of Haiti; many schools were damaged or destroyed. The earthquake is devastating to this small country. People from around the world are offering support to help the wounded and care for the dead. We offer our sincere condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones in this tragedy. When life begins to normalize there will be a need for children to return to school to continue their education.

This has become a concern for CREED. Many of these students are at an important time in their lives, and are depending on an education to keep them going on the right track for their future. These are the future business owners, Doctors, nurses, vets, teachers, athletes, etc. They need our help to succeed and continue what was once a part of their every day life. This earthquake hit hard, but through your help, we can soften the blow enough to keep their dreams of a bright future ahead. They truly need to continue their education.

There are many schools in Haiti that will reopen slowly. Once the immediate needs are met people begin to rebuild their lives the need to send children back to school that is when the second wave of needs will arise. There will be many who have needs for the basic school supplies we provide in our humanitarian school kits.

We have come up with a plan to help the students, as well as the schools in Haiti. CREED is gathering items and assembling humanitarian school kits for the students in Haiti. We are looking for donations, both in-kind and cash to make enough to make an impact. These kits consist of your typical cliché items like spiral bound notebooks (totaling 450 pages of paper), pencils, erasers, colored pencils, a ruler, scissors and a school bag. See School Kits for an example of what is contained in each kit.

We want to ship out these kits soon, but we need additional donations so we will be able to buy the items to put in the kits together. A typical school kits costs approximately $10.00; all donations great and small are appreciated. CREED is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and your donations are tax deductable. Thank you for your kind donation!