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Most of the Board members can be found working hard every Wednesday afternoon. Here we have, from the left, Councillors, Corinne Leger, Jeannette Moncion, Matilda Cyr, Gerogette Beaulieu and President, Georgette Bergeron. Missing at the time the photo was taken were Jackie Laforest and Jean-Paul Grenon.

Sister Lucile Bourassa, a former teacher, is in charge of preparing and organizing books and other educational supplies for shipment. The group is constantly receiving a wide variety of books so Sister Lucile is extremely busy checking them out and organizing them for delivery. She also looks after packing educational toys and other materials which will be used in teaching young children in Haiti.

Once the supplies have been checked over, repaired and packed in boxes, they are sent over to the "wrappers" who are responsible to see that the boxes will survive the long trip by transport and ship to Haiti. In the photo above, we have Gilbert Lavigne, Alonzo Cormier, Clement Boudreau and Joseph Hanna.

There are so many wonderful stories about works of love at CERCLE MISSIONNAIRE de la VALLEE. For example, Georgette is holding up a beautiful blanket which was made by a volunteer who simply pulled the yarn from old sweaters and then knitted the material into the blanket. Imagine the patience and the work involved. This blanket will be sent to Haiti where it will come in handy during the cold nights in the mountains. According to Georgette, there are several ladies who never come to the facility, but who just keep taking the old yarn and making blankets.

OUR MISSION

CERCLE MISSIONNAIRE de la VALLEE began around 10 to 15 years ago. The exact date was not readily available at the time this article was written. The organization was created to provide assistance to Sister Therese Lamoreux m.c.r. of the order of the Missionary of Christ the King. Sister Therese was originally from Chelmsford. When Sister Therese set up a mission at Sigueneau, Haiti, she discovered a tremendous degree of poverty and hopelessness among the people. Thus, Georgette Bergeron, President, and a number of volunteers from St. Margeurite d'Youville Parish set out to do what they could to help out.

Today, CERCLE MISSIONNAIRE de la VALLEE collects over 60 tons of goods and medical supplies from local donors and ships the lot twice a year to Sister Therese. Besides providing assistance to Haiti, CERCLE MISSIONNAIRE also sends material to Moosonee and has a working relationship with the other two food banks in Valley East, Good Neighbours and St. Vincent de Paul.

When donations come in, the volunteers check them out thoroughly to make sure that any repairs are completed before packing them in boxes, ready for shipping. With the permission of donors, some of the items are put up for sale in the impressive flea market section of the building. This is to raise money which is then used to purchase medical supplies and help pay the expenses of the building operation.

Georgette tries to get into schools as often as she can to create awareness of the poverty in Haiti. She also speaks to CWL, Confirmation Groups and other community minded organizations. Most of the donations come to the group via word of mouth. Georgette will also accept cash donations and indicated that all donations of $20 or more will be given a tax receipt.

If you have any items to donate or would like to make a financial donation, just drop in to their new home in the old Public Works building on Desmarais road any Wednesday afternoon from 12 noon to 4 p.m. or call 969-2192 for more information.