Get your bags packed and help Haiti this Saturday

A Kiltoom man is holding a fundraiser this coming weekend in Monksland to raise money for a house-building mission in Haiti he is taking part in through a new Irish charity. Declan Finneran, an AIT graduate, who now works in his family"s construction business, needs to raise €4,000 before he heads off on the life-changing trip with Haven. He"s organised a bag-packing day in Smith"s Supervalu, Monksland, this Saturday June 20. It"s the first in a series of fundraisers Declan and some friends are organising before the trip. He"s also planned a second bag-packing day in Dunnes Stores of Roscommon town for July 31. 'I"m going to Haiti for the week of Halloween and I"m really looking forward to it, but it"s tough work,' he said. Last year Declan travelled to Cape Town with the Niall Mellon Trust, so not only is he used to the hard graft of house-building in a hot country but also the task of fundraising. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is still attempting to recover from the hurricanes that ravaged the island two years ago. There are still many people left without homes and suffering from a basic lack of infrastructure. Haven is a new international development agency which was founded only last January by Irish businessman Lesley Buckley who witnessed the poverty there first-hand. The charity aims to build 1,000 new homes and improve 2,000 more by the end of 2011. It will employ, train and upskill locals to carry out the work and aims to bring 250 Irish volunteers to the country for the first ever "Build It Week" in October. So if you"re shopping in Monksland this Saturday, give Declan a few euro to help out the Haven mission. If you"re interested in finding out more about Haven, contact 01 4333930 or email info@havenpartnership.com.