Orthodox Youth To Spend Martin Luther King Day Preparing Aid for Haiti

East Meadow, NY – Today, at 10 a.m., Orthodox Christian youth will gather at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church here to assemble humanitarian aid packets for residents of Haiti affected by last week’s earthquake. The project, organized by the parish’s PTA, enables children to spend a part of their day off from school helping those in need.

“Since today is a national holiday to honor the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights movement, we decided to use this as an opportunity to help the residents of Haiti,” said Father Martin Kraus, rector of Holy Trinity Church, “The gospel message – on which our parish is founded – demands we help the less fortunate.”

The children will be creating emergency health kits, which include basic bath accessories like soap, a toothbrush, comb, and washcloth. The kits will be shipped to the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) in Baltimore, MD when completed, and IOCC will partner with Church World Service (CWS) to deliver the kits to Haiti during the coming weeks and month of recovery efforts.

“While it’s not possible for us to leave our jobs and families to help in Haiti, we can take a day to gather as a community to assemble health kits,” said Father Martin, adding, “God has richly blessed the residents of Long Island, and this unfortunate crisis in Haiti reminds us of the importance of sharing those blessings.”

This project is part of a larger effort by Holy Trinity Orthodox Church to help those in need on the local, national, and international level.

Photos from this service project

Complete schedule of events