On February 3, 2010 a total of $20,000 in matching funds was made available to Reiser Relief Inc. for support of short-term relief and long-term recovery efforts in Haiti funded by an anonymous donor and Twin Hearts Media Inc.
The $20,000 grant has now been matched on December 31, 2010; we wish to send many thanks to the many donors who have made this possible, who have now released $20,000 to be used for our projects in Haiti.
Online donation were processed on the Razoo, online platform for charitable giving. Razoo is dedicated to helping nonprofits embrace the benefits of online fundraising. Donations were also process by a Razoo affiliate GiveMN.org – a custom Razoo portal for Minnesota nonprofits – as well as on GiveMN donors.
Projects include:
Fresh Water Delivery Truck in Cité Soleil & Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
Yearly delivery of over 4 million gallons of clean water to the poor in the slum of Cité Soleil. Delivering four 3,500 gallon loads of water, 6 days a week, 52 weeks per year to thousands of people. That is the equivalent of 800,000 five gallon buckets of water each year. Funds support local Haiti driver salaries, fuel and maintenance.
Reiser Relief sends cargo shipping containers filled with meal packets. Transportation cost per container is around $10,000. These food packets are assembled by volunteers in the U.S. and donated by the nonprofit organization Feed My Starving Children. For many children, the daily meal at school is the only one they will receive. This food is distributed in various parts of Haiti: Lespinasse, Cité Soleil, Leogonne, Jacmel, and Titanyen.
Terre Promise Primary School - Cite Soleil, Haiti : Funds are for teachers salaries so that school fees can be low enough to allow even the poorest families to send their children to school. We have also constructed classrooms, built school benches and given assistance for school uniforms, school and medical supplies, food and clean water. 400+ children attend school.
Reiser Heights Primary School Lespinasse, Haiti : Funds are for teachers salaries so that school fees can be low enough to allow even the poorest families to send their children to school. We have also constructed classrooms, built school benches and given assistance for school uniforms, school and medical supplies, food and clean water. 300+ children attend school.
Grace Village Titanyen, Haiti: Help build a village from the ground up. Reiser Relief assisted with Healing Haiti in purchasing 16 acres of land to build Grace Village. The estimated construction cost is $236,500 for the first building phase to include two orphanage dormitories, a feeding center, a 21,000 gallon cistern, water tower and a septic tank. The orphanage is for handicapped, deaf, abandoned, and orphaned children living in severe poverty.
With help like this, Reiser Relief can continue to save the lives of these extremely impoverished people! We live among abundance; the Haitians live in extreme poverty. They await your generous response and we pray for God’s abundant blessings upon you. With deep gratitude, we thank you for helping us to "Keep the Wheel Turning!" Together, we make a difference in touching the lives of thousands of people!
About Razoo
Founded in 2006 and based in Washington, D.C., Razoo is a trusted and innovative way to give and raise money online. Razoo offers a secure platform, a streamlined donation process, and a suite of free and easy-to-use fundraising tools that inspire individuals and nonprofits to give and fundraise online. To date, more than $22 million has been donated to thousands of charities in the U.S. and around the world through Razoo. More information is available online at www.razoo.com.
About GiveMN
GiveMN is an innovative online resource that is changing the way Minnesotans give and helping create a stronger nonprofit community for Minnesota. GiveMN is an independent 501(c) (3) supporting organization of the Minnesota Community Foundation. Many partners shaped GiveMN to build upon Minnesota’s strong tradition of philanthropy, For more information, go to www.GiveMN.org.
About Reiser Relief Inc.
Reiser Relief Inc. is a volunteer run non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded by Father Bernard Reiser, who has been involved with Haiti outreach programs for over 13 years. Reiser Relief is based in Coon Rapids, MN and its mission is to help the impoverished people of the Caribbean country of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
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CONTACT
Reiser Relief Inc.
Father Bernard Reiser
1800 - 111th Avenue NW #320
Coon Rapids, MN 55433 USA
Phone: 763-757-2295
http://ReiserRelief.org/
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Reiser Relief Inc. Haiti Pamphlet
Reiser Relief Inc. Haiti Flyer and Haiti Pamphlet are printed documents that now can be read online. These documents provide a nice summary of the projects in Haiti Reiser Relief supports through your donations.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Donate to Reiser Relief Haiti Projects on Razoo
You can now donate to Reiser Relief Haiti Projects that are listed on the Razoo giving platform.
With your help, Reiser Relief can continue to save the lives of these extremely impoverished people! We live among abundance, the Haitians live in extreme poverty. They await your generous response and we pray for God’s abundant blessings upon you. With deep gratitude, we thank you for helping us to "Keep the Wheel Turning!" Together, we make a difference in touching the lives of thousands of people!
http://www.razoo.com/p/reiser-relief-projects/
Razoo is dedicated to helping nonprofits embrace the benefits of online fundraising. No other company in the online giving space offers nonprofits and donors the incredible value of free and innovative fundraising tools.
Razoo is an innovative online giving and fundraising website that brings together a comprehensive list of nearly one million charitable organizations, allowing users to easily find and donate to the charities of their choice. Its partnership with U.S. Bank will also have a positive impact on the nonprofit affiliates of GiveMN.org – a custom Razoo portal for Minnesota nonprofits – as well as on GiveMN donors.
http://givemn.razoo.com/p/reiser-relief-projects/
Both Razoo and GiveMN will continue to provide individuals and nonprofits a suite of free and inventive tools to encourage online giving and fundraising.
Enabled by the partnership with U.S. Bank, Razoo will also provide secure processing and donation disbursement services to nonprofits. For its part, U.S. Bank has a long tradition of serving and building the communities where it does business.
You CAN match YOUR donation for Reiser Relief - This means your $10 becomes $20, your $25 becomes $50 and your $100 becomes $200. Matching funds are available to Reiser Relief Inc. for support of short-term relief and long-term recovery efforts in Haiti.
http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Haiti-Match-For-Reiser-Relief
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Father Bernard Reiser Book Signing Dec 5 2010
Reiser's Ramblings Book signing by Father Reiser at
Epiphany Catholic Church - Gift Center - 1900 – 111 Avenue NW * Coon Rapids, MN 55433
Sunday December 5th - Fr. Reiser will be in the Gift Center signing his book starting at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Reiser's Ramblings Books will be available for purchase and Haiti crosses will be available.
Store hours Saturday 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Gift Center is having thier annual open house celebration starting on December 4 and 5. Receive 10% off your total purchase that weekend. There will be candy canes, door prizes, and a free advent calendar.
To order Reiser’s Ramblings online
http://reiserrelief.com/book.html
Reiser’s Ramblings is a collection of Fr. Bernard Reiser’s best columns written over the past three decades. Be inspired all over again as you read Father’s take on everyday topics such as family, kindness, gratitude, prayer, helping others, and staying focused on what’s important in life.
All profits from the sale of Reiser’s Ramblings go to Haitian relief efforts sponsored by Reiser Relief Inc. Help the needy and get a great keepsake of the best columns originally written for the parishioners of the Church of the Epiphany, Coon Rapids, MN
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Haiti's cholera outbreak
OCTOBER 23 2010 News reports indicate the Haiti cholera outbreak has spread outside a rural valley in central Haiti and this has intensified worries the disease could reach many of the tarp camps that house hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors in the capital.
Cholera is a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours.
Haiti YouTube Video Cholera
Reports indicate that Cholera was not present in Haiti before the earthquake, but experts had warned that conditions were ripe for disease to strike in areas with limited access to clean water.
Reiser Relief funds a water truck that operates six days a week making four deliveries to many poor neighborhoods/tent cities/clinics in Cite Soleil and provides water free of charge, reaching numerous impoverished families where the local people carry the water home in 5 gallon buckets.
See Reiser Relief Haiti Water Delivery Truck
Cholera is a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours.
Haiti YouTube Video Cholera
Reports indicate that Cholera was not present in Haiti before the earthquake, but experts had warned that conditions were ripe for disease to strike in areas with limited access to clean water.
Reiser Relief funds a water truck that operates six days a week making four deliveries to many poor neighborhoods/tent cities/clinics in Cite Soleil and provides water free of charge, reaching numerous impoverished families where the local people carry the water home in 5 gallon buckets.
See Reiser Relief Haiti Water Delivery Truck
Water Truck Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhpATkK-BP8
The water pumped from s deep aquifer and the Water Truck operation is run by Kevin McClellan who treats each load of water with chlorine.
Chlorine added to drinking water has helped in the safety of drinking water throughout the world. The chlorine damages the cell walls of water born bacteria such as eschera coli, (E coli) and cholera.
Kevin McClellan'S Story - Haiti Water Truck
Video on Kevin McClellan
Water Truck Aid is allways needed for fuel,repairs and supporting local drivers.
Donate now through a HAITI DONATION MATCH
The water pumped from s deep aquifer and the Water Truck operation is run by Kevin McClellan who treats each load of water with chlorine.
Chlorine added to drinking water has helped in the safety of drinking water throughout the world. The chlorine damages the cell walls of water born bacteria such as eschera coli, (E coli) and cholera.
Kevin McClellan'S Story - Haiti Water Truck
Video on Kevin McClellan
Water Truck Aid is allways needed for fuel,repairs and supporting local drivers.
Donate now through a HAITI DONATION MATCH
Donation Match Video
Thank you so much for your generous donations for "Keep the Waters Flowing" to the poor people of Cite Soleil, Haiti.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Haiti Grace Village October 2010 Construction
REBUILDING HAITI
Immediately after the earthquake, numerous obstacles became evident that would prevent or slow our efforts to cleanup the damage and start to rebuild. Fuel was in short supply and was actually unavailable for the first two weeks after the earthquake. Roads were often broken or impassible. Most of the stores and businesses were closed because of lack of electricity and telephone communication was almost nonexistent. Restarting construction came to a grinding halt.
MARCH 2010
By March, things started again to move. Fuel was available, roads had been at least partially cleared and temporary cell towers had been put in place. The downside was construction materials were in short supply or out of stock. International contractors had been brought in to clear sites and to start building temporary schools and government buildings. Much of the available construction materials were being used just to shore up damaged buildings.
The materials we needed, concrete and steel were hard to find. To add to the problem, the port was damaged preventing new materials from being imported.
APRIL 2010
By late April we were able to get concrete and by June were able to get some of the steel needed to build the trusses for the roof. Work continue though the summer and early fall to try to make up for lost time while not compromising quality and to bring the project closer to completion.
OCTOBER 2010
Photos in this document are were taken on October 10, 2010.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39898445/Haiti-Grace-Village-October-2010-Construction
Video Slide Show of Grace Village October 10 photos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB3d2sQRLj8
The concrete walls are complete, the trusses are built and up on all three buildings and the roof sheathing is installed on the two dormitories. The sheathing for the feeding center will be completed within the next week. All plumbing including cistern and septic tanks are roughed in and capped. We are also excited for the street children and elderly and the impact that the
new Feeding Center will have on their lives. Bringing food to those that often go hungry will provide us with the opportunity to share God's loving touch to those in need. As we look to building completion, we are now pressed to provide site cleanup, playground areas and a security wall around the property.
We have been blessed with support of many who helped the children and responded to our capital building fund. Many wanted to provide the funds to build the building that will become home to these children. The dormitories and the feeding center are fully funded. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge now however is security and site development. All of these are desperately needed and are unfunded at the present time. With the completion of the building being only a few months away, we are seeking urgently needed donations to help make Grace Village a reality for these children. Having a clean, safe and secure site is critically important to providing a quality environment for these children. The security wall must be build to protect those who come for food as well as those who live there.
The costs needed for completion are as follows:
Site Cleanup, Grading and Leveling $18,300 Playground and Soccer Field Development $22,400 Security Wall and Steel Gates $87,900
We are grateful for your support and thankful that God put you in our path. We know that he has blessed all of us and that it is our job to let some of those blessings flow through to others in need.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB3d2sQRLj8
DONATE NOW
http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Reiser-Relief
RECAP
Read about Grace Village Recap Aug 2009 to Oct 2010
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39952753/Haiti-Grace-Village-Aug-2009-Oct-2010-Construction
August 2009 Ground Breaking of Grace Village Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAVqxR4sH6E
April 2010 Video 360 degrees of Grace Village
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raVYzBxsjOA
Saturday, June 26, 2010
God’s Grace At Work Within Us -By Fr. Bernard Reiser
God’s Grace At Work Within Us
My family’s farm was on the edge of a small lake. The water was surrounded by woods except for our shoreline. In a north bay, closest to the farm, was an island with a cluster of trees whose roots were no doubt nourished by the water that surrounded them. This island was a favorite place of mine when I was a boy; I would go and sit in the shadow of the trees looking at water all around.
One spring the rains came in abundance and continued into the summer. Soon, the ground around the trees was covered with water until at last the trees stood immersed in the lake. Slowly but surely,the trees died, overpowered by the same water that once nourished their roots. The island eventually disappeared and the trees, lifeless,fell and soon floated away.
When I think of the lake, the lovely island and the beautiful trees,I am reminded of the spiritual life of so many. People are like the trees growing beautifully on the island and the water surrounding the island are the things of the world, namely the materialistic and secular influences of our modern society. As the number of material things and worldly interests increase, like the water, they slowly sap the individual of their spiritual life and growth.
Matters of God become less and less important as our interest in secular matters increase. When we focus on the pocketbook and material resources, which we rely upon to pay for worldly desires and various entertainments, our dependence on God is lessened.
Soon, prayer loses its value; reliance on a fat checkbook takes the place of a Providential God. The life of the spirit becomes less and less important and slowly it is drained from the person’s soul. What can be seen, touched, felt and enjoyed over powers the unseen and the realities of a future life. The glory and joy of the Kingdom, which God has promised to the faithful, are no longer taken seriously. How quickly the things of the world can wash away the storehouse of the spiritual that has been built over previous years.
We all live on the island of the spirit and we are surrounded by the worldly attractions that oftentimes seem so appealing, so delightful and so much to be sought after. But, like the water surrounding the island, they slowly gain greater hold, greater power, over the spiritual trees in our life.
I urge everyone to take inventory on how worldly things are encroaching on their spiritual life. Are we losing our grip on the great principles and teachings of Christ that we gained in our younger years? Are matters of God slowly getting watered down, rendered less and less important?
It is good to regularly take inventory of where we are in our relationship to God and the spiritual state of our soul. Is our island of the spirit growing stronger and expanding, or is the “water” of the world encroaching upon our spiritual fortifications? Youth, middle-aged or senior, it is never too early to take inventory of your spiritual life and to evaluate where you are in your journey to Heaven.
Don’t wait until your spiritual island has been washed away by the waters of a worldly existence. Jesus once said: What profit does a man show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process.(Mark 8:36)
These Ramblings offer considerations as you fortify yourself against the worldly influences that could otherwise engulf you.
-- Fr. Bernard Reiser -
Page 150-151 Reiser's Ramblings
http://www.reiserrelief.org/book.html
My family’s farm was on the edge of a small lake. The water was surrounded by woods except for our shoreline. In a north bay, closest to the farm, was an island with a cluster of trees whose roots were no doubt nourished by the water that surrounded them. This island was a favorite place of mine when I was a boy; I would go and sit in the shadow of the trees looking at water all around.
One spring the rains came in abundance and continued into the summer. Soon, the ground around the trees was covered with water until at last the trees stood immersed in the lake. Slowly but surely,the trees died, overpowered by the same water that once nourished their roots. The island eventually disappeared and the trees, lifeless,fell and soon floated away.
When I think of the lake, the lovely island and the beautiful trees,I am reminded of the spiritual life of so many. People are like the trees growing beautifully on the island and the water surrounding the island are the things of the world, namely the materialistic and secular influences of our modern society. As the number of material things and worldly interests increase, like the water, they slowly sap the individual of their spiritual life and growth.
Matters of God become less and less important as our interest in secular matters increase. When we focus on the pocketbook and material resources, which we rely upon to pay for worldly desires and various entertainments, our dependence on God is lessened.
Soon, prayer loses its value; reliance on a fat checkbook takes the place of a Providential God. The life of the spirit becomes less and less important and slowly it is drained from the person’s soul. What can be seen, touched, felt and enjoyed over powers the unseen and the realities of a future life. The glory and joy of the Kingdom, which God has promised to the faithful, are no longer taken seriously. How quickly the things of the world can wash away the storehouse of the spiritual that has been built over previous years.
We all live on the island of the spirit and we are surrounded by the worldly attractions that oftentimes seem so appealing, so delightful and so much to be sought after. But, like the water surrounding the island, they slowly gain greater hold, greater power, over the spiritual trees in our life.
I urge everyone to take inventory on how worldly things are encroaching on their spiritual life. Are we losing our grip on the great principles and teachings of Christ that we gained in our younger years? Are matters of God slowly getting watered down, rendered less and less important?
It is good to regularly take inventory of where we are in our relationship to God and the spiritual state of our soul. Is our island of the spirit growing stronger and expanding, or is the “water” of the world encroaching upon our spiritual fortifications? Youth, middle-aged or senior, it is never too early to take inventory of your spiritual life and to evaluate where you are in your journey to Heaven.
Don’t wait until your spiritual island has been washed away by the waters of a worldly existence. Jesus once said: What profit does a man show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process.(Mark 8:36)
These Ramblings offer considerations as you fortify yourself against the worldly influences that could otherwise engulf you.
-- Fr. Bernard Reiser -
Page 150-151 Reiser's Ramblings
http://www.reiserrelief.org/book.html
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