FCC News Desk
A team of four bike riders taking part in the annual "Ride for Haiti" across Connecticut made a stop Thursday, September 17, at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Norwich.
The team chatted with Bishop Michael R. Cote and stopped for pictures with Father Frank Rouleau, Chaplain and Twinning Director for Outreach to Haiti.
The team of riders from Outreach to Haiti started the sixth annual bike ride on Monday, September 14. As with past years, the team will ride 337 miles over 5 days from September 14-18.
The bike ride has been planned as a "virtual trip" across Haiti, and will visit some of the parishes and schools in Connecticut that are twinned through Outreach to Haiti with parishes, orphanages, and schools in Haiti. This year is different, though. In the past it started in Maine and proceeded through five of the six New England states.
The purpose of the ride is to raise awareness and funds to support Outreach's mission in Haiti. Outreach to Haiti has been in Haiti for over 35 years, serving the poor in the Kris Wa (Christ the King) community of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas with a healthcare clinic, food and nutrition programs, education programs, developing and maintaining twinning relationships, cultural immersion trips, and the FAK program, which empowers women to start their own businesses.
Its motto is, "Helping Haitians Help Haitians." More information about Outreach to Haiti, and a link to make a donation, can be found on OutreachtoHaiti.org. The specific goal of this year's ride is to raise funds to support these programs.
This year, conditions in Haiti have been worsened by COVID-19, and the demand for services has increased significantly. All of the programs, but especially food and nutrition, have become even more critical than ever. So the people Outreach to Haiti serves in Haiti are in great need of support. At the same time, many ongoing efforts in the U.S. to raise the money that supports the programs have been significantly hurt by the pandemic. Thus, the "Ride to Rebuild" for the last five years, is now a “Ride for Haiti" to support basic programs.
Below: A photo from the 2019 Ride to Haiti stop in Norwich, with the children of St. Patrick School. This year's riders said they missed seeing the students, and hope to be able to do so next year.
