Help for Haiti
A converted warehouse in downtown Lexington KY was the setting for a $100-a-plate benefit dinner on May 19 to help the people of Bayonnais, Haiti. Proceeds from the festive event will fund a water project to provide safe, clean drinking water for the Bayonnais area.
The event was the brainchild of Tim Carson, a retired school teacher and professional caterer, whose first trip to Haiti last year profoundly changed him and gave him a new focus for the rest of his life. “I'm not kidding,” he says. “It shifted my way of thinking.”
Since then Carson has made several more trips to Haiti, carrying suitcases stuffed with clothing, medical supplies, sports equipment and other needed items. He began tapping his neighbors for donations and they responded with generosity. “My living room looks like a flea market about a week before each trip,” he says. He also recruits professional volunteers such as engineers, electricians and plumbers. His vision is to have the city of Lexington become a sister city to the Bayonnais area.