Taste of Haiti dinner fundraiser this weekend

(WIVT/WBGH) – You can experience a taste of cuisine and culture while supporting the construction of new solar projects in Haiti.

SUNY Broome's Health for Haiti program is hosting is second annual Taste of Haiti Dinner Fundraiser this Saturday.

Health for Haiti started in 2014, offering SUNY Broome students the opportunity to earn college credit while visiting, and providing humanitarian assistance to Haiti.

But the students haven't been able to visit Haiti since 2019 because it's been too dangerous.

The program supports one specific, small, rural village in Haiti.

Since its inception, the program has supported the creation of a community garden, a sewing school, a state-of-the-art water filtration system, and an elementary school.

The school started with just 25 students in 2014, and now, it has over 300.

Biology professor Jen Musa says the fundraiser would help build a new solar powered building to feed the village.

"We've been thinking about ways to use clean energy as an economic initiative. And so, one of the things that the community has thought about trying to do is opening a solar bakery. There's really no bread out there and everyone loves bread. The solar could also be used for refrigerators, so there could be cold drinks. And so, that's where our engineering students are coming in," says Musa.

The dinner is catered by TSHA's and includes music, guest speakers, basket raffles, and presentations about Health for Haiti.

It's this Saturday from 6 to 8:30 in the SUNY Broome dining hall.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids.

Find out more and donate online at HealthForHaiti.org

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