Mary Lou Benoit-Connors, RN & Founder - continued...

In 1984 Mary Lou married, and in 1988 she and her husband, Robert, adopted two children in Lima, Peru. She returned there and assisted with a community development team in 1991. Haiti mission trips remained a focus, primarily for medical intervention. She recalls, “One especially hot day a young Haitian girl held my arm to guide me. She was so young and her hands were so cold.” Mary Lou had just read a story of Blessed Mother of Calcutta in which she instructed her volunteers, “Do not bring your tears to the suffering. They have enough of their own. Bring them your joy.”  These words have resonated with Mary Lou over the years with a goal of bringing joy and love to her medical missions. She returns to Riviere Froide with a dedicated team led by Charlie Moran, founder of Friar Suppliers, from Lindenhurst, New York. She set up the non-profit Helping Haitian Children, Inc. in November 2014 to help raise money for the school and its lunch programs. The feeding programs extend to the local community as well, where hunger and malnutrition are rampant.