Kathy Albertini accepts the pickleball tournament’s donation check from Adam Lewis. Photo by Erica Bryant
With recent turmoil in Haiti causing serious difficulty for Honeoye Falls’ sister City of Borgne, the Friends of Borgne are grateful for local efforts to raise funds to offer aid. On Sunday, July 28, there will be an ice cream social at Dipper Dan from 2-6 p.m. with proceeds benefiting food and education programs in Borgne.
For more than a decade, Friends of Borgne has supported school scholarships, a soup kitchen, band instruments and a mobile library in Borgne, a city on the northern coast of Haiti. These days, there is great need. In the wake of the assassination of Haiti’s president and the violence of competing gangs vying for power, the United Nations has reported “catastrophic” levels of hunger for tens of thousands of people. Schools have been forced to close.
FOB member Sarah Brownell heard from one friend in Borgne that everyday is necessarily full of miracles. “You go out in the street and return to your house; it’s a miracle. You talk to someone who has gone to the bank and taken out a little money to eat; it’s a miracle. Because one never knows if they will return home, the way the situation is now.”
To help provide some aid, the Youth Group of the First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls raised more than $5000 for the Friends of Borgne at its Second Annual Pickleball Tournament on May 11th.
The popular tournament more than doubled its entries this year, with people driving from as far as an hour away to raise money for Friends of Borgne and its education and nutrition programs in Borgne, Haiti.
“It was so gratifying to raise so much money for such a great organization,” said Adam Lewis, Director of Christian Education for First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls.
In the future, the tournament will be named the “Dick Haviland Pickleball Tournament” in honor of Dick Haviland, co-founder of Friends of Borgne who also helped establish the Sister City relationship between Honeoye Falls and Borgne, Haiti many years ago. Haviland, who sadly passed away earlier this year, also helped to create the Fondasyon Dauphin Marching Band for the folks of Borgne by collecting and repairing instruments for shipment to Haiti.
Tournament sponsors included Mark’s Leisure Time Marina, Rev. LGN, LLC, Tambe Electric, LeFrois Brother’s Automotive, Bear’s Playground Equipment, HF Rotary, and Reign and Win Pickleball Company.
As she accepted the tournament’s donation check, FOB member Kathi Albertini offered sincere thanks. “Thank you Pickleball enthusiasts, thank you HFFP, women’s group, and Kirk for supporting Friends of Borgne, an organization that accompanies visionary everyday Haitians who are dedicated to education as they realize dreams that make their community stronger.”
For more information about Friends of Borgne or to make a donation, visit, www.friendsofborgnehaiti.org
The ice cream social fundraiser will be held at Dipper Dan at 136 W. Main Street Honeoye Falls, 2-6 p.m. on Sunday, July 28. There will be a pet parade and music by Don Griffin and Friends band.
