Local shares heritage in hopes of raising money
A dinner fundraiser featuring Haitian cuisine will be held
Saturday at the Hollister Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2121
Sunnyslope Road, at 7 p.m. to support relief efforts that continue
in the island nation.
Local shares heritage in hopes of raising money
A dinner fundraiser featuring Haitian cuisine will be held Saturday at the Hollister Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2121 Sunnyslope Road, at 7 p.m. to support relief efforts that continue in the island nation.
Emmanuel Nelson, whose family moved from Haiti when he was 5 years old, is organizing the event.
“I was just kind of thinking what we could do to help,” he said. “I realized a lot of people didn’t know where Haiti was and being from there, I wanted to let people know a little more. One of the ways is with food.”
Nelson and his wife Rebecca, who is a teacher at the Seventh Day Adventist Christian School, approached the church staff about hosting the dinner there. Rebecca is also teaching some of the students Creole phrases they will say when they volunteer at the dinner.
One thing that stirred Nelson to organizing something was listening to his mother on the phone after the 7.0 earthquake hit Jan. 12.
“Listening to her tone, she was really agonizing about the situation,” he said. “The tone in her voice made me realize I had to do something.”
Nelson has extended family in Haiti still, including aunts and cousins, and fortunately they have all been accounted for. But his mother and aunt, who live in Southern California, agreed to come up for the weekend to help with the event.
His mother Christianne Nelson and aunt Lourdes Francois will start cooking some of the dishes for the meal today, finishing off the rest tomorrow before the 7 p.m. meal.
The menu will include a pumpkin-based soup, fried plantains, rice and beans with mushrooms, a type of cornmeal made into a polenta-like dish, and Haitian cakes for dessert.
Nelson said a dinner highlighting the cuisine he grew up eating is what popped into his head when he first thought of a fundraiser.
“My mom said, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll drive up and I’ll cook,'” he said. “She really enjoyed the idea…it was kind of last minute, but everyone really seemed excited.”
In addition to the meal, Nelson said he will give a presentation with some images from Haiti since the earthquake, and recent statistics about the destruction there. He isn’t asking for a set donation per person, but is hoping the presentation and food will spur people to give.
The donations will be given to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, which has partnered with other relief agencies to provide clean water and food, according to the ADRA Web site.
“They say 90 percent of the money goes straight to the relief effort,” Nelson said. “It’s a group that is associated with the Church and I’ve known them for a long time.”
For more information on the dinner or to donate, e-mail Emmanuel Nelson at
em***************@gm***.com
.
