In the background the donated ambulance that will be transported on the chartered ship of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers.
The “Lifeboat for Haiti” pulls up to the dock to be loaded with more than 165 tons of supplies for the Haiti relief effort.

A Scientology-sponsored ship is loading up with supplies for Haiti, including wood-burning stoves from the charity founded by the Lola Poisson-Joseph, wife of the Haitian Ambassador to the United States.  The 896-ton Hornbeam, a former U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, is transporting more than 165 tons of cargo to Haiti including an ambulance, a school bus and more than 20,000 Meals Ready to Eat.

As the ship pulled up to the dock at South River Drive in Miami, North Miami Beach Councilperson John Patrick Julien presented the Scientology Volunteer Ministers with the Key to the City of North Miami Beach on behalf of Mayor Myron Rosner and a proclamation dedicating the day to the Scientology Volunteer Ministers for their work in Haiti.

Also present were Phillip Brutus, former Florida State Representative and current candidate for U.S. Congress, Daphne D. Campbell, RN, Haitian community leader and candidate for the Florida State House of Representatives, Marleine Bastien, executive director and co-founder of Haitian American Women Association (FANM) and the Haiti Relief Task Force and Marie Yolaine Ferdilus, co-chair of Haitian Relief Task Force and Founder of Legal Protection of America. 

The supplies on the “Lifeboat for Haiti” have been donated by more than a dozen churches, charities and groups and will be delivered to schools, orphanages, hospitals, churches and disaster response groups in Haiti including the Notre Dame de la Naiveté Orphanage, AIMER Haiti, Operation Compassion, and the Scientology Haiti Disaster Response Team, which has been providing relief in Haiti for the past two months.

Since the January 12 earthquake, the Church of Scientology has transported more than 360 medical professionals and 300 Volunteer Ministers to Haiti.  With more than 100 volunteers on the ground, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers continue to provide support to doctors, nurses and EMTs, deliver food and water to the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps and help with reconstruction, disaster response training and trauma relief.

For more information please contact:

Pat Harney: (727) 423-3610
Cheryl Duncan: (201) 332-8338
Mercedes Alvarez (English/Spanish): (305) 401-8489