Today I write with a new request. I ask you to become active partners in our newest campaign. We need your help to spread the word, and to get your family and friends involved as well.

After weeks of careful planning, the Pottery Project has arrived! Sandra, Jane and Miranda have been working hard . . . → Read More: The Pottery Project]]> Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Today I write with a new request. I ask you to become active partners in our newest campaign. We need your help to spread the word, and to get your family and friends involved as well.

After weeks of careful planning, the Pottery Project has arrived! Sandra, Jane and Miranda have been working hard to plan the opening of a pottery studio and shop at the Children’s Center, which will help the orphanage become more financially self sustainable, and less reliant on fluctuations of private donations.

The children will be involved in decorating mugs, bowls, plates, vases, jewelry, etc. which will be sold in Haiti and throughout the United States! 100% of profits from the sales will be used to support the orphanage, so that the Children’s Center will be more financially sustainable and independent!

The promotional video and donation page are available here: The Pottery Project

In this all-or-nothing fundraising campaign, you can pledge any amount you wish, and you will receive a small gift of appreciation, such as a hand written thank you note from one of the children, or a hand crafted mug! Your pledge will not be charged, and we will not receive any money for the project UNLESS we hit our $8,000 goal by the end of the campaign on June 14th.

For this reason, we need everyone’s help. We ask you to donate, but we also ask you to spread the work amongst your family and friends. We cannot reach our goal without you. We will be working hard to get as many individuals involved as possible, but our staff and volunteers can only reach so many people. We need your help to extend our reach. Together we can make the pottery project a reality, and set the Children’s Center, and all of our children on the path toward a more prosperous future.

Thank you for your help, your prayers, and your support. God Bless!

Fr. Giordano Belanich

Croatian Relief Services, Inc.

Croatian Relief Services funds the Cardinal Stepinac Children’s Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The mission currently cares for 47 children from 2 to 15 years old, which requires about $10,000 per month for the bare necessities . . . → Read More: Introducing the 100 Club!]]> This is Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011, writing to introduce Croatian Relief Services’ new fundraising campaign: The 100 Club.

Croatian Relief Services funds the Cardinal Stepinac Children’s Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The mission currently cares for 47 children from 2 to 15 years old, which requires about $10,000 per month for the bare necessities and operating expenses. That is roughly $200 per child a month for food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical attention. This financial challenge is where the idea for the 100 Club began. If we can find 100 mission partners willing to commit to a donation of $100 a month, we could reach this goal and provide the mission with the funds needed to continue serving these children.

As I write, I remember holding my favorite 3 year old girl, Pierre Lynne. She’s at the orphanage because her mother passed away and her father abandoned her. Just three years old and she’s already known more pain and suffering than I have in my entire life. I’m reminded of James 1:27, which says, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Wish to join the 100 Club? Here’s where to begin…

To sign up for the 100 Club, simply call our office [(201)745-1145] or email [croatianreliefservices@gmail.com] with the following information:

1. Your Name
2. Mailing Address
3. Email Address
4. Method of payment: Check, Money Order, or Paypal?
5. Would you like to receive a tax deductible receipt via postal mail or email?
6. Additional names and addresses of partner contributors.

If $100 is too large of a commitment to make at this time, do not despair, you may still be able to joint he 100 Club! Within your community or family you can set up your 100 Club partnership by asking your neighbors, friends and co-workers to join you.  They can do this by donating $10.00 each month. If 10 people join you with $10.00 each month you will be able to send $100 each month and become a part of Club 100. If you your friends can only contribute $5 a month, you will need 20 contributors each. All your donors will receive a certificate of donation each month for every donation.

For more details you can contact croatianreliefservices@gmail.com or

Father Gio Belanich

Croatian Relief Services, Inc.

Apostolate of Mercy

P.O. Box 355

225 Anderson Avenue

Fairview, NJ 07022

201-745-1145

Orphans Found a Home at the Cardinal Stepinac Children’s Center.

Haiti was hit with a catastrophic earthquake on January 12, 2010. Several days after the quake, a Priest from the Croatian Catholic mission in Fairview NJ, USA. Fr. Giordano Belanich, arrived in Haiti.

Fr. Gio, a Preist from the Island of Ilovik, who currently resides in the . . . → Read More: For the first time, Cardinal Stepinac is Celebrated in Haiti]]>

Orphans Found a Home at the Cardinal Stepinac Children’s Center.

Haiti was hit with a catastrophic earthquake on January 12, 2010. Several days after the quake, a Priest from the Croatian Catholic mission in Fairview NJ, USA. Fr. Giordano Belanich, arrived in Haiti.

Fr. Gio, a Preist from the Island of Ilovik, who currently resides in the USA, formed an organization called Croatian Relief Services during the war in Croatia. His mission was to help the people of his homeland. Towards the end of the conflict in Croatia, Fr. Gio redirected his attention toward Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The catastrophic earthquake prompted Croatian Relief Services to help the people of Haiti. Fr. Giordano found a parcel of land on which he established an orphanage, dedicated to the Blessed Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac. At this time, there are 47 orphaned and abandoned children living in the center. The majority of the children living in the center are between 3 and 8 years old. The youngest, Widson, will turn two in March 2012, and the oldest girl, Naelle, is 15. The center is being run by local women, with the help of two Croatian women and one American. The residents of the center welcomed Fr. Gio during his most recent trip in February 2012, with a song and a smile.

On Sunday, February 10, 2013, in a nearby church run by a Haitian Priest named Father Coupe, the residents of the Cardinal Stepinac Children’s Center celebrated the feast of the  Blessed Cardinal Stepinac. At that time, Fr. Belanich baptised little Widson. His God parents are Ivan Baric and Sanja Boban, Croatian who reached out to help this abandoned child. Widson was brought to the Cardinal Stepinac Children’s Center by the religious sisters of Jesus and Mary in the city of Gros Morne. He was just 22 days old when he arrived. He had lost his mother in childbirth, and his father, who had other children, could not afford to care for him. When the sisters brough him to us, he was so tiny that he could fit in the palm of your hand, and his very existence was in jeopardy. Despite many obstacles, including tuberculosis and bronchitis, he managed to survive. He was baptised during mass in the presence of the Children, residents of the Children’s Center, and friends. The children were overjoyed that the youngest member of the group became a member of the church.

However, the situation in Haiti is continually deteriorating. The children suffer most of all, due to lack of food, medicine, and basic necessities. We know that our center is supported by many Croatians in our homeland, and we are grateful to them, from the bottom of our hearts. The motto of our center is: “let us save at least one child.”

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Father Giordano Belanich

Proslava Stepincevo po prvi put u povijesti Haitija

Siroce pronaslo dom kod kardinala Stepinca Nekoliko dana nakon katastrofalnog potresa koji je 12. January 2010 Godine pogodio Haiti, u glavni grad- Port-au-Prince, stigao je dusobriznik Hrvatske Katolicke Misije iz Fairviewa u New Jerseyu, Vel. Giordano Belanich.

Za vrijeme Domovinskog rata ovaj hrvatski svecenik porijeklom s otoka Ilovilka I s prebivalistem u Americi, osniva organizaciju pod nazivom Croatian Relief Services (CRS) s ciljem slanja pomoci u domovinu I regiju. Po zavrsetku Domovinskog rata pater Gio, kako ga zovu od milja, napore CRS-a usmjerava prema Haitiju, tada najsiromasnijoj zemlji zapadne hemisfere. Veliki i katastrofalni potres koji je u sijecnju 2010. Godine udario Haiti potaknuo je Croatian Relief Services na hitno djelovanje I pomoc zrtvama potresa.

Silom prilika vel. Giordano Belanich pronasao je zemljiste na kome je utemeljio sadasnje sirotiste I Djecji Centar posvecen Blazenom kardinalu Alojziju Stepincu u kojem trenutacno prebiva 47 napustene djece, kojim je vecina roditelja poginula tijekom potresa. Vecina djece koja zive u ovom centru su izmedju 3 i 8 godina. Najmladji Widson u ozujku ce napuniti dvije godine, a najstarija djevojcica Naelle- 15 godina. Sirotiste vode lokalne zene koje se brinu za djecu uz pomoc dviju Hrvatica iz Zagreba i jedne Amerikanke koje ondje zive. Sticenici centra Blazenog Alojzija Stepinca s osmijehom i pjesmom su docekali vlc. Belanicha koji je pohodio centar od 4. do 12. Veljace 2013. Godine. U nedjelju, 10. veljace u susjednoj crkvi proslavili smo Stepincevo svecanom svetom misom, na kojoj su djeca sirotista pjevala na engleskom i kreolskom jeziku. U misnoj koncelebraciji sudjelovao je mjesni svecenik pater Coupe, cije se sjemeniste nalazi uz nas Centar. Tom zgodom vlc. Belanich krstio je najmladjeg sticenika Centra, s kumovima Ivanom Barichem I Sanjom Boban. Widson je u nas centar dosao iz najsiromasnijeg planinskog dijela otoka, a clanom haicanske Stepinceve obitelji postao je u travnju 2011. Godine, u dobi od svega 22 dana. Nakon smrti majke pri porodu, I uz oca koji ima i stariju djecu I nije se mogao brinuti za njega, Widsona su casne sestre dovele k nama. Kad je djecak stigao, bio je toliko malen da je mogao pocivati na dlanu odraslog covjeka. Bio je pothranjen i bilo je upitno hoce li prezivjeti. No, usprkos mnogim bolestima koje je prosao I prezivio- preko tuberkuloze do upale pluca, postao je privatni mali heroj naseg Centra I danas je miljenik sve djece I osoblja. Krsten je svecanom sv. misom pracenom slavljem suradnika, zaposlenika, prijatelja i sticenika. Nadjenuto mu je krsno ime Widson Alojzije, prema kardinalu Alojziju Stepincu. Djeca su bila presretna sto je najmladji clan sirotista postao clan crkve.

Situacija na Haitiju je doslovce sve teza svakoga dana. Najvise od svih trpe djeca koja i dalje umiru od gladi, posvemasnje bijede, kao i izlijecivih bolesti- zbog nedostatka lijekova I elementarnih potreba. Velika je oskudica hrane, vode, lijekova i drugih neophodnih potrepstina. Haiti je nacija sirocadi, a malo je onih koji bi se mogli pobrinuti za njih. Svjesni smo da nas Centar pomazu Hrvati u Domovini I ovim putem im se od srca zahvaljujemo jer je vrlo upitno gdje bi polovica ove djece danas bila i bi li uopce bili zivi da se nismo za njih pobrinuli. Geslo ovog centra jest: spasimo barem jedno dijete, a Bog ce se preko srdaca dobrih ljudi pobrinuti za ostale.

Srdacno Vas brat po Kristu,

Velecasni Giordano Belanich

Do you know what a Third World Country is? That is a country in which an avocado is the size of your forearm, rich and smooth, and costs not even 50 cents. Having said that, here, 75% of the population cannot afford this treat. A third world country is a country in which a night stay . . . → Read More: Life in Haiti: Becoming masters of improvisation]]>

Do you know what a Third World Country is? That is a country in which an avocado is the size of your forearm, rich and smooth, and costs not even 50 cents. Having said that, here, 75% of the population cannot afford this treat. A third world country is a country in which a night stay at a hospital costs 2,70 USD, yet the sheet-less beds are empty. People are scattered all over the place while receiving IV’s, and when they are done they go home… or at least to the place where they can spend the night.

Allow me to mention a few facts. Hurricane Katrina, which hit the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, was the most expensive natural disaster in the history of the USA. Total property damage was estimated at $81 billion. Billion. And then we turn to Haiti. Even before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in the western hemisphere, 65% unemployment, deforestation (when arriving by plane you can see the clear distinction on the border of Haiti and Dominican Republic), illiteracy, life expectancy around age 55, and a high rate of infant mortality.

Today, three years after the earthquake, Haiti is still bleeding for help. That’s like after a death in the family. The worst is when all the “well wishers” have already come through, and everyone forgets but you. We had this series of events: Hurricane, earthquake, cholera, hurricane, cholera (and the more common, constant pandemics – malaria, tuberculosis, HIV…). They say that the earthquake which hit Haiti was the largest natural disaster in the history of mankind. Not only was it a 7.0 on the Richter scale, but it also occurred at a depth of 8 miles (almost 13 kilometers); the effects of which were massive! It is estimated that over 300 thousand people died in this disaster, 1.5 million people have been directly affected by the consequences of this earthquake. The country has received approximately 7 billion dollars of aid. Yes, some of it went into the right hands, but the majority of it didn’t. And even if it had all gone into the right hands, would that money would have been able to truly help this torn nation? If Hurricane Katrina cost 100 billion dollars, are you really satisfied with 7?

Every day here in Haiti is a new battle. We are constantly fighting, day in and day out, month after month. Being a foreigner here is looked at as being a human wallet, even if you are struggling to make ends meet, anyone and everyone will try to take advantage of you. We’ve had that experience with church members, director of the school, with the hospital… Haitians believe that they deserve some portion of the resources that flow into the pockets of non-profits. Because there are over 350 thousands NGO’s in Haiti, and the workings of all of them are not exactly transparent and generous towards the locals, it is not at all difficult to understand why they expect the help. Hopelessness here has a different meaning from any other place. Here, an orphanages are not shown compassion because there are just so many orphans that their number is not known. For example, today our preschoolers needed to each bring in a pineapple for school. We have 19 preschoolers and we could not afford 19 pineapples. And even if we could, we would rather use those 19 pineapples to feed them. The next day the same thing happened, but with apples. If you take into account that one apple here costs $1.50, and a snack for each child costs $2, we would always rather use the money to pay for snacks for our children, than send the snacks to a school which is barely giving them a basic education let alone some critical thinking skills. For example, it is rare that schools here have an English program as part of their curriculum, and if it does, the program is very poor. And then there is the fact that we face such difficulties when trying to explain to them that we are an orphanage, we are small, and that we are struggling to provide our children with a decent childhood, but it is difficult when they are constantly sabotaging us. Here, schooling is extremely expensive, uniforms for class, for gym class, for choir, buying books two times a year, snacks every morning for all the children because in school they do not get food or water, backpacks, supplies, shoes, hair bows, haircuts every month… the list goes on and on. The costs are growing every day, our teenagers are changing from day to day and their needs are as well growing.
And on top of it all, we want to provide a home, love and all they do not but do deserve to have – a right to a childhood. Life in Haiti is full of challenges – you plug one leak, and ten more open up. And so we’ve become masters of improvisation. In a country without a system, we are trying to implement one of our own. It is difficult, full of discouragement and falls, tears and failure, but that is why every success brings twice the joy.
But we would not be able to do any of this without your help. Aside from all our New Years resolutions, we ask that you add US to your list. However much or little you can give to us, it means a lot here. There is currently an epidemic of malaria here. Seven of our children have high fevers. With God’s help, Dr. Morgan, a friend of our orphanage arrived and examined our children. He showed us how to help them when we could not immediately go to a hospital. We ask that you do not become deaf to our cries for help, because every single one of your donations means the world to our children. May God bless you always!

Making the list, checking it twice… all gifts and cookies for our kids are wrapped, Santa is ready to visit our chimney. Widson is specially excited so he started with eating decorations. Thank you all for your help and support to make this Christmas merrier and joyful.

. . . → Read More: Merry and blessed Christmas from Haiti]]>

Merry Christmas ~ Jwaye Nowel ~ Sretan Bozic

Making the list, checking it twice… all gifts and cookies for our kids are wrapped, Santa is ready to visit our chimney. Widson is specially excited so he started with eating decorations.
Thank you all for your help and support to make this Christmas merrier and joyful.

May the splendor of this season remind you of Him who is worthy of all our praise and may the true spirit of this season find you and fill your heart with joy and happiness.
God bless you all
Merry Christmas from all 71 of us here in Haiti, and all our staff in New Jersey

You may not be able to help thousands of abandoned children in Haiti but I bet you can help  just one by sending your shoe-box gift 2012. We are still collecting shoe-boxes for poor children in . . . → Read More: Share a little Christmas with a child in Haiti]]>

OPEN YOUR HEART TO ONE ABANDONED CHILD THIS CHRISTMAS  DAY!

The 2012 Shoebox Drive runs October 20th through December 15th.

You may not be able to help thousands of abandoned children in Haiti but I bet you can help  just one by sending your shoe-box gift 2012. We are still collecting shoe-boxes for poor children in Haiti and you may be able to bless one child this Christmas with a shoe-box gift. What you need to do is get one shoe box and fill it with the following items.

Prayer: The most important ingredient in your shoe box is prayer. The child who will receive your shoe box lives in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Your shoe box will be a great blessing and open their hearts to the love of Jesus who was poor and had to be born in a stable.  All of these children   will resemble Jesus on Christmas Day.  In your school box you can put prayer and school supplies: Pens, pencils & sharpener, markers, spiral notebooks, solar calculator, rulers, erasers, etc.  With it you can add Hygiene items: Toothbrush, toothpaste, bar soap, washcloth, hand towel, hair brush, comb, nail file and clippers, deodorant, etc.   You can add some clothing such as socks and underwear, light-weight clothing (t-shirts, sun dresses, shorts with elastic band) and braided belts (boys), flip-flop sandals, ball caps, sun visors, sunglasses, etc.  Do not forget to write a Christmas card for the child that will receive your shoebox, your family photo, wristwatch, hair accessories, harmonica, costume jewelry, flashlight (with extra batteries or solar powered/wind-up), compact umbrella, etc.  in addition you can add some small toys: Coloring books, crayons, dolls, small cars, dominoes, playing cards, jump ropes, balls (deflated with possibly a small pump & needle for a soccer ball or basketball), yo-yo’s, stuffed animals, stickers, marbles, checkers,  etc.  You may also include chocolate, candy or any kind of food, rubber snakes, liquids, sun-glasses.  If you put in food and candy please wrap it   tight in the plastic so that it will not  be contaminated by the smell of an enclosed soap.

Wrap your gift in Christmas paper and then in the brown paper and address it to: CROATIAN RELIEF SERVICES, INC.  (THE APOSTOLATE OF MERCY).  P.O. BOX 355, FAIRVIEW, NJ 07022. On the box indicate if the gift is for a boy or a girl and an approximate age of a child. 

In a separate envelope, please include a donation of $ 8.00 dollars to help cover the shipping costs.  Enclose a check payable to Croatian Relief Services. Please do not send cash. If you send multiple boxes, you are welcome to make one collective donation for the quantities you are sending. On the memo of your check, please write: shoe box.

Deliver or send your shoe box or boxes  to

CROATIAN RELIEF SERVICES, INC.                

225 Anderson Avenue  

Fairview, N.J. 07022                                                       

This project can be done by school children or your children.   A child can bless a child and bring joy in the lives of  one Haitian child this  Christmas.