Survivors at service will include a Haitian student who treated the wounded and took in orphans 

Suffern, NY—The community is invited to a prayer service for Haiti at Rockland Community College on Tuesday, February 2, 12:30 p.m., at the Student Union, Room 3214, second floor.

The College and community will pray together for Haiti and its earthquake survivors. The College has many students of Haitian descent, including five international students studying on a student visa, like 24-year-old nursing student Mixon Brown. Brown was home in Haiti on winter break at the time of the earthquake, and witnessed firsthand the suffering of the survivors when he helped doctors at the Cite Lumiere Mission treat the wounded, which included the newly orphaned. Although his parents and four brothers and two sisters survived, their recovery will be a long one. Brown said, “Now my parents are housing 17 people—seven of whom we’ve never met before, including three orphans.”

The prayer service will include comments from student Johann Fenelus, President of the Haitian Club; Dr. Cliff L. Wood, President of SUNY Rockland; Father Dan O'Reilly, Director of Campus Ministry for the Archdiocese of N.Y.; Rabbi Dov Oliver, Director, Center for Jewish Life/Hillel; and Michael Ver’Schneider, Campus Minister, SUNY Rockland. The ceremony will end with prayers and songs.

Students in need of services, or who just want to talk, can contact the following services:

• Religious Life Office, Room 3205, Student Union, 845-574-4531
• The Center for Jewish Life, Room 3209, Student Union, 845-574-4422
• The Student Development Center, Room 8220, Technology Center, 845-574-4306
• Rockland County Department of Health 24-hour Counseling Hotline (French & Creole), 845-364-2216

For more information about the Prayer Service, or drop-off locations to donate supplies for Haiti (i.e. band-aids, canned food, bottled water, diapers, etc.) contact Debra Balestra, Director, Student Involvement, at 845-574-4373 or dbalestr@sunyrockland.edu