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Worcester charity sending aide to its memorial orphanage in Haiti

By Stephanie Coueignoux

Be Like Brit's founders stand inside the shipping container they plan to fill with supplies bound for Haiti. 

By Stephanie Coueignoux

WORCESTER, Mass. — The damage from Matthew in Haiti is devastating.

Over 800 people have reportedly died as a result of the massive storm. Thousands more are in shelters and humanitarian aide is being sent from all over the world -- including right from Massachusetts.

One group in Worcester, Be Like Brit, is gathering supplies to send to an orphanage the local organization helped found there.

Be Like Brit was created in honor of local resident Britney Gengel, who was killed during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

The foundation has a center in Worcester as well as an orphanage in Haiti.

Earlier this week, the orphanage had been helping residents in Haiti prepare for Hurricane Matthew. Now, they're helping residents in the aftermath.

The center in Worcester will be collecting donations from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday to send to the orphanage in Haiti.

Another local non-profit, Saint Boniface Haiti Foundation, out of Newton is also working to get resources and staff members to Haiti as quickly as possible.

Because many roads are blocked, people simply can't get to the hospitals.

If you'd like to help, you can stop by BLB's donation center at 66 Pullman Street in Worcester to drop off anything that can be sent to help.

You can find a list of donations the organization is looking fo in the Facebook post below.

On Saturday, October 8th and Monday, October 10th from 9am-1pm, BLB will host a donation drive where the community can stop by the Operations Center at 66 Pullman Street in Worcester (next to PriceChopper). The need is for monetary donations to help pay for the relief efforts. These donations can be immediately put to work as we begin rebuilding homes, repairing roofs and replacing household items such as mattresses that were damaged and destroyed during the storm. A shipping container will be on site at the Operations Center on Saturday and Monday as we fill it with peanut butter, canned tuna, canned chicken, canned spam, canned ham, powdered milk, Tang, pasta, children’s vitamins, over-the-counter pain reliever (Tylenol, Motrin), towels, and bars of soap to ship to Haiti as soon as the airport is operable and roadways in Haiti are passable. Due to the expense of shipping items to Haiti, please understand at this time, the only items that we will be accepting will be monetary donations, peanut butter, canned tuna, canned chicken, canned spam, canned ham, powdered milk, Tang, pasta, children’s vitamins, over-the-counter pain reliever (Tylenol, Motrin), towels and bars of soap. We are overwhelmed and so grateful for the response we have received so far and the generous donations that have been coming in to us to help with BLB’s hurricane relief efforts! Click here to help us help our neighbors: http://bit.ly/1cDtfPH

Posted by Be Like Brit on Thursday, October 6, 2016

Cox Media Group

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