By Mary Richardson

The Rev. Dr. Mitzi George, rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, often ends Sunday services with the admonition to, “Feed the hungry, clothe the poor, care for the sick, and welcome strangers among us.” The church has been putting those words into action since 1992 by being the sole supporter of a school located deep in the mountains of southern Haiti.

The annual fundraiser, Fish Fry for Haiti, to support Saint Mathieu École Episcopale in Bégin, Haiti, will take place on Friday, March 14. Take-out dinners will be available from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the church’s Outreach House, located at the corner of Kirkman and S. Division Streets.

The menu will be catfish fillets with all the trimmings, plus homemade desserts. Members of the church will prepare the meal, and some members have developed specialties. The catfish will be fried by the “Quackers,” a group of men who regularly cook together. Members are Richard “Doodle” Walker, Fred Bennerscheidt, George Paret, Paul George, Fred Rau, Guy Richards, Frank Wood and Matt Hughes, plus “guest Quackers” Earl Daigle, Jeff Schweitzer and Frank Wood.

Glenda Williams, founding member of Tend My Lambs, Good Shepherd’s committee that oversees the school, is in charge of green beans and the kitchen crew. Mother Mitzi will supervise the making of the coleslaw, and lead volunteers in chopping more than 20 pounds of onions. Church members will provide homemade desserts.

The fish fry will support a school that is thriving – against all odds. The disarray and violence in Haiti have not reached it, probably because of its remote location, according to Williams. The school has become the center of the Bégin community, and provides sustenance for body, mind and soul. Enrollment is at a record high, with 239 elementary and 232 high school students. Good Shepherd provides tuition for the students, salaries for 53 teachers and staff, plus school supplies. Noon meals for students, teachers and staff are served Monday through Friday by the Jackson Kemper Foundation, but more than just students are being fed: “The students will leave a portion of the meal on the school’s wall, where family members wait to pick it up. That way they can share with their whole family,” Williams said.

A clinic, located on the school’s campus but open to all, provides medical care on a regular schedule through Haiti Health Care Partners.

Williams said watching the school grow and thrive has felt like a miracle. The church’s relationship goes back to 1992, more than three decades ago, when Good Shepherd built the first school. It first consisted of only five classrooms, but the school grew little by little — until 2010 when an earthquake and four hurricanes destroyed the school and most of the village.

Faced with the daunting task of rebuilding the school, Good Shepherd turned to the Lake Charles community, and held its first Fish Fry for Haiti. People bought tickets, and also purchased scholarships for $150 that covered the costs for one student for one year. A new and better school was rebuilt the following year.

“Until the earthquake, our church had been providing 100 percent of the support for the school,” said Dr. Ben Williams, who has been part of the Tend My Lambs Committee since he was 13. “But, with the community behind us, we could do wonders. We rebuilt the school, and we also began to provide tuition for the secondary students,” he said. “In recent years, we’ve been able to increase the salaries for the teachers, and that is money that filters down throughout the entire community of Bégin.”

Safety has always been a concern, but never more so since gangs took over the country after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. The school and the people have remained safe, partly because the church’s long-term association with Haiti Education Foundation (HEF), headquartered in Arkansas.

HEF has “people on the ground” who can deliver monies safely through a bank located in a rural area, and oversee day-to-day operations. HEF also ensures that 100 percent of designated donations go directly to Haiti, with nothing deducted for administrative fees. The funds raised by the Fish Fry will continue to support the needs of the students and staff.

This year two other needs have been identified by HEF, one short term and one long term.

The immediate need is for the school’s cistern to be repaired or replaced. The long-term need, identified by the staff at the school, is for a new kindergarten building. The school already has three kindergarten classes, but the need keeps expanding as the school becomes more and more vital to the Haitian people, Williams said.

Glenda Williams said Good Shepherd is committed to supporting this school because church members believe it is the only way to help Haitians better their lives in the long run.

“Continuing to support our school St. Mathieu means that the Bégin community can provide hope through education, the only way out of poverty and violence, growing citizens who can one day make a difference in their world,” she said.

How to support Saint Mathieu École Episcopale

Tickets for the Fish Fry for Haiti are $20 and are available at the church at 337-433-5244 or emailing finance@goodshepherd-lc.com. Tickets can be purchased online with a QR code by going to the church’s website, goodshepherd- lc.com and clicking on “mission and outreach.”

Tend My Lambs committee members also have tickets. They are Dr. Ben Williams, Glenda Williams (chair), Martha Hoskins, Mother Boo Kay, Mary Richardson, Denise Rau, Jay Winters, Tausha Kordisch, Robert Williamson, Pam Spears, Cindy Monroe and Tom Sanders Jr.

People can also purchase scholarships, or make donations, on the church’s website. A $150 scholarship will fund one student for an entire year. There is a QR code for the scholarships on the website, or the form can be downloaded and mailed to the church.