Enfield community joins forces to send students to Haiti to help families, kids in need

A group of 14 Asnuntuck Community College students and staff plan to head to Haiti during spring break to help build a new, hurricane-proof home for a family in need, and they are working to raise the funds.

Community members gathered at a pasta dinner Wednesday night and spent $8 for a plate of food, all in an effort to reach the group’s goal of $36,000.

“We had to raise a lot of money in order to make this happen and it’s been overwhelming how much the community in Enfield, Asnuntuck, has really embraced us,” Asnuntuck Community College student Colin Szwed said.

The group will visit the “Be Like Brit” orphanage, named after Britney Gengel. The 19-year-old was performing mission work in Haiti when the 2010 earthquake hit the area, and she was killed.

Right before the devastation hit, Brit sent a text to her mother saying she wanted to move to Haiti and build an orphanage, but even though she didn’t make it out alive, her dream did.

“In her honor they built an orphanage to support the children in the area in which Britney was doing her service,” Kelley said of Brit’s parents, who started the Be Like Brit foundation.

The students, inspired by the Gengel’s strength, are eager to visit the site, and bring the children gifts.

“They’ve had a long trip to get here, it’s tragic what happened to them but it’s great that something beautiful came out of it,” student Andrew St. Amand said.

It’s a feeling of fullness for those involved, and provides lessons that can only be learned through experience.

“This will be life changing for our students,” dean of students Katie Kelley said. “There’s nothing about this trip that you can teach in a classroom.”

It’s a home for 66 children, a dream come true for Britney, and a place for so many to  give back.

“We’re blessed to be able to have this opportunity,” Szwed said. “I think that she’d be just really, really proud we’re continuing what her dream was.”

All the funds from Wednesday’s pasta dinner will go toward the trip, especially since the entire night’s costs were funded through donations. Shoprite of Enfield handed over majority of the food, while Sylvia’s International Restaurant gave the bread.

The group leaves for the trip in March, but still has more money to raise.

The next Be Like Brit fundraiser is a “Quarter Auction Fundraiser” on February 18 at the Enfield Knights of Columbus at 6 p.m. Admission is $5, and organizers ask you to bring quarters to take part in the auction.

You can donate to ACC’s Be Like Brit Group for the trip specifically, or to the Be Like Brit Foundation.

Share:

Author: `