I need your help this year for these three important reasons.
As my dear friends already know it. Every year I do my best to bring help to some children. Since 2015, I have decided to promote and act for Social Responsibility.
Two entities have influenced me.
The first one is Copa Airlines, a great company I have worked for since 2007. Copa’s tremendous and inspirational Corporate Social Responsibility program positively affected me.
The second one is my friend and former colleague, Barry Fernandez. Barry visited Haiti in 2014. He went to “Cité Soleil,” the poorest shanty town of Haiti, where he played football with some children. Before leaving Haiti, Barry stayed with me for a few hours in the international airport office. During our conversations, he told me he was at “Cité Soleil.”
I was stunned, since the area has a bad reputation regarding security. I even asked Barry if he was crazy.
But Barry said no, he was not crazy, and he continued explaining how he enjoyed himself with the children there. Another friend took him there, and he had the opportunity to play with the children, who showed him much love.
Barry felt some tears in his heart when he saw the poverty level of the children. And despite that, they were so happy; they had big smiles and enough energy to play.
Barry said, Franck! We need to do something. My answer was, my friend, I don’t see what I could do. But, Barry said again, yes, my friend, you can do something. Please work on something; please, at least let’s try. Then it was time to take the plane, and Barry left Port-au-Prince.
As usual, I had a hard day managing the airline operations at the airport. When I reached home at night, I told myself: Go to rest, my friend. After taking my bath and eating, I slept since it was already late. I usually wake up during the night, and when this happens, I stay alone in bed, thinking. And that time, I was thinking about what Barry told me: “Franck, yes, my friend, you can do something.”
I was not sure yet; I’m not entirely new to the “Help area.” That’s what I was doing after the earthquake in 2010 in Haiti when a CNN reporter interviewed me. But this was not my first activity; I did it occasionally.
But I started thinking about what to do. I talked to some friends and collaborators; we discussed the idea of making a first good action day. We visited an orphanage and carried food for the children. That good action day, we made it in the name of Copa Airlines. And we had a wonderful day with the children, we also brought some balls and played soccer with them.
Then I said that I will not to stop. I did not have much money, but I used my personal fund. I refused to call for help because it is about money, and I thought that people might judge me or not trust me since it was the first time I was going for this kind of thing. Again with some friends and collaborators out of the airport. We visited another orphanage, the “My father’s house orphanage,” in the first semester of 2015. We made food distribution.
Then again, I decided not to stop. I created a social and cultural club. The “Caribbean and International Connection Club” (Caricon Club). But at that time, it was Gadomi Club. I encouraged some friends and my staff to join the club. We started working on some objectives.
Through the club, I have launched two campaigns:
– The first one is baptized, “Help us to dress the children.” We started this campaign because, during our previous visits to the orphanages, we observed that the children had torn clothes, and some had footwear on only one foot. It is like we saw them acting, playing, and juggling without dignity.
– The second campaign is: “Children’s heart must be happy.” Through this campaign, we collected toys to distribute to the children in December. In the orphanages we visited, we observed that the children had a chance to have some classes inside the orphanage, but had nothing to play with. They were children; they needed to play and were playing with some toys they crafted from damaged plastics tub or else.
I have called for help for these two campaigns. However, I kept refusing to ask for money. Because I sincerely believed that the club and I would face people’s judgment, since we are not a well-known group.
I addressed some people I know, some colleagues from the Caribbean. Former colleagues like Bridget from Jamaica and Anton from Trinidad and Tobago responded positively. They sent me some toys and children footwear in 2016. And also my friend Agel from Panama, who used to send me some helpful bags of clothes and toys.
For other toys, clothes, fees, and activities costs, I decided to buy or finance everything with personal funds. By acting this way, I was 99% sure that I would not face wrong judgment from anybody. Unfortunately, most of the time, the ones who will not help will be the first to start jugging or doubting.
In 2017 my former employer, who became a friend, fell in admiration for what he saw us doing. So, he decided to make a personal annual donation as his participation in the activities. He did that every January, except 2021, due to Covid-19, until he passed away on January 2022. So that was the only donation we used to receive as money donation. And it was done five times from a friend.
I have been fighting with small personal funds and close friends and family since 2015. So, why do I finally accept to call for a donation from a larger public, including money donation?
A quick answer, there are three reasons:
1- I have the less financial possibility
Covid-19 arrived and hardly touched us on March 2020. All flights were canceled. The airport got closed, and no jobs. Copa Airlines has had no operations in Haiti since that period. So, I certainly have less revenue. My income was already not high. But I used to share it by using a part of my paycheck to finance the activities, buy toys and clothes for the children, and even organize recognition events for my team to encourage them.
2- Cancer fight
During the same period, Covid-19 arrived while the mother of my children was fighting cancer. We fought; the treatment has hardly hit the family economically. The last two years were very hard. In the end, we lost. My children mother passed away on June 2020. And this experience’s economic side effect is still there.
3- I don’t want to give up.
Now the situation is complicated. At the beginning of 2022, I lost my only good friend who used to donate yearly. Since Copa does not fly to Haiti anymore, so I can’t receive the bags that my friend used to send me from Panama. We tried an international air delivery service, but the price is very high. And no flight to Haiti means no job; I had a challenging experience related to sickness and death in my private family life. The country (Haiti) is actually in a very complicated sociopolitical situation. So, everything is settled to have good reasons to give up. But I said no, I wouldn’t give up; let me try other options instead.
I’m here because I want to continue. I dream of seeing the Caricon club to become a recognized Caribbean and International entity acting in: Haiti, Belize, Mexico, Panama, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, and other Caribbean areas. In 2016, we were proud to support the “Christmas dinner” organized for needy children by the “Ricon de la Luz” foundation in the Dominican Republic. We have yet to do big, but as said by my friend Barry, we started by doing something.
Nowadays, I’m calling for help with Christmas toys for “Children’s heart must be happy” campaign (December 2022), and for the “Help us to dress the children” campaign that will end on April 2023. Any kind of donation will be welcome. New and used children clothes, toys, and footwear. New and used electronic devices like laptops and tablets. And money donations.
You can donate now using PayPal or credit card: Click here
For wire transfers, deposits, also for clothes toys, and other materials donations, you are welcome to email me for details at: causes@rancklinpierre.com
We will continue acting; we vote for social responsibility through the promotion and sponsorship of Knowledge, recreation, cultural exchange, and good actions. Thanks to everyone, and thanks for everything!
Regards
Francklin Pierre
Caribbean Social Communicator,
Community manager.
Promotor of Self-Leadership, Travel Safety,
Cultural Exchange and Culture of peace