Olympian Easter Campaign to Rebuild Our Church in Haiti

With resurrection in the air, the Diocese of Olympia launched Rebuild Our Church in Haiti to run through The Great Fifty Days. Even before Pentecost Sunday, the number of gifts arriving at ECF had broken all previous records for the campaign. Here are just some of the creative ways congregations rallied to help the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church.

St. Hilda St. Patrick, Edmonds, Washington

St. Hilda St Patrick, Edmonds began their campaign on Maundy Thursday with an Agape dinner service. At supper, people had “table crafts” at their seats: cardboard bricks waiting to be assembled. According to parish coordinator Nora Cheek, “Soon 75 people were folding their bricks, chatting about the bricks, and loading them into the wheelbarrow as the “builders” went around the room collecting the bricks.” Response was so great, they had to raise their goal!

St. Paul’s Bremerton, Washington

St. Paul’s, Bremerton started with a Plant Swap that turned into a plant sale. “With any new building comes new plants and landscaping,” says organizer Ann Horn. She used paper bricks as price markers for the plants and enlisted the help of Trader Joe’s and the florist department at Safeway, where she picked up $20 orchids for $4 each. The brick markers worked so well that very few plants were swapped. Instead, people purchased them to “fund” a brick or two each toward Haiti’s new cathedral.

Church of the Ascension, Seattle, Washington

Church of the Ascension, Seattle celebrated a successful completion (and 250 bricks!) on their feast day. Children participated with a Mother’s Day lemonade and bake sale and Toni Luchessa made a quilt to represent the many bricks used to rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral.

There’s More!

Bishop Rickel helped Holy Spirit, Vashon Island celebrate their successful campaign and their centennial on Pentecost. But as we all know, Pentecost is just the beginning.

Emmanuel, Mercer Island will hold a Haitian picnic June 10 to celebrate their success, St Luke, Tacoma is planning a June campaign “recycling” St. Hilda St. Patrick’s cardboard bricks, and both St. Margaret’s, Bellevue and St John, Kirkland are planning fundraisers for the summer as well.

Have a great story?

We’d love to share it. Sent it to Terri Mathes at tmathes@episcopalfoundation.org.