Food still needed for Haiti after hurricane, Kansas nonprofit says

Villages in Haiti remain in need of food four months after being leveled by Hurricane Matthew, according to the nonprofit Star of Hope, based in Ellinwood.

The nonprofit is working to raise money to send two loads of 650 relief packages to the towns of Debouchette and Roche Jaboin.

“The problem right now is that first you had the Hurricane Matthew and it washed everything away, then you came into a drought,” said Maria Presson, operations manager at Star of Hope.

A relief package costs $50 and contains enough food to last a family of six for two to four weeks, Presson said. It includes 25 pounds of rice, 10 pounds of sugar, 10 pounds of beans, six cans of fish, six bags of spaghetti, 1 gallon of oil, chlorine tablets for water purification and laundry detergent.

After the hurricane, assistance poured into the area. That has now died down even though the drought continues.

“Life was much easier just after the hurricane than today,” Haitian Justa Henry said in a news release. “Then there was at least something to eat.”

To help, text starofhope to 91999 or visit https://www.starofhope.us/give.

This story was originally published February 5, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Food still needed for Haiti after hurricane, Kansas nonprofit says."