For the second year, in April 2015, a group of 30 firefighters from the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) will be heading to Haiti on a very spécial volunteer mission. They will be erecting a third annex to the Mark Bourque school. The new building will be named the “Pavillon Clertida Cassamajor,” after the pediatrician who has been the school’s administrator since 2009. Those responsible for the mission decided to name the third building after her to salute her involvement with the students.
How can you help?
The firefighters involved in this tremendous project need all the help possible to make it a success. Anyone interested in supporting the project can make a donation via the mission’s Facebook page, “Mission Haïti – École Mark Bourque.”
Benefit concert
A special benefit concert, “Sur le chemin de l’école,” for the Haiti mission will be held on March 13, 2015, at 7 p.m., at the Cabaret Lion d’Or. The show will be hosted by Haitian-born comedian Dorothy Rhau and will feature Nanette Workman, Tamara Weber-Fillion, Bob Walsh and Guy Bélanger. We hope to see lots of people there!
For tickets, go to the La Vitrine website, at <lavitrine.com> (http://www.lavitrine.com/vcmweb-P-327/activite/Spectacle_Benefice_pour_l_Ecole_Mark_Bourque).
Some background on the mission
On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 to 7.3 earthquake struck Haiti, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving many injured, in addition to destroying most of the country’s infrastructure. Five years later, Haiti has still not fully recovered. Jonathan Michaud, a firefighter at Station 42, and Robert Lessard, a retired police officer, wanted to help and decided to organize a humanitarian trip to Haiti, with the goal of helping the Mark Bourque elementary school in Debussy, near Port-au-Prince. The school, built by a group of Quebec policemen in 2006, receives no government funding – its survival depends entirely on private donations. The funds raised since then have gone toward school uniforms and supplies for the students, a lunch canteen and, above all, basic schooling to help them find jobs.
For more information
Jonathan Michaud, SIM firefighter
E-mail: jomicho16@hotmail.com
Facebook: Mission Haïti – École Mark Bourque