Vickroy: Supplies are bound for Haiti, or bust

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Gary Marquardt, of Richton Park, (left) and others hand bags of donated clothing to Dale Batterman, of Peotone, as they load up a bus with items for shipment to Haiti at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Richton Park Wednesday, January 18, 2012. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media

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To contribute to the Haiti Lutheran Mission Project, send checks to Immanuel Lutheran Church, 4800 Sauk Trail, Richton Park,
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Updated: February 23, 2012 8:04AM

When the orange- and green-striped school bus arrives in Jeremie, Haiti, sometime next month, it will be carrying clothes, school supplies and medical needs. It also will contain the heart and spirit of the community of Richton Park.

The last of the supplies were loaded Wednesday. On Sunday, Dale Batterman will drive out of the parking lot of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Richton Park en route to a Miami shipyard, where the bus will be lifted onto a freighter and shipped south to Haiti.

Batterman said the idea sprung from a brainstorming session among the congregants at Immanuel Lutheran. But, he added, just about everyone in the village got behind the project. They were assisted by friends in nearby Matteson, Orland Park and Monee.

“It’s an exciting moment,” Richton Park Trustee Brian Coleman said. “We typically come together to help others in this area. This was an opportunity to reach farther. And now we’re on the brink of doing that good.”

Restaurants, including The Chicago Dough Co., donated food for fundraising events. Merchants, such as Ace Hardware, donated paint and other supplies. The local VFW let them use the hall for a successful ham dinner. Flossmoor Auto helped with mechanical repairs. And Rich South High School hosted a launch celebration.

Meanwhile, residents donated clothes, shoes, cases of water. Somewhere along the way, the group picked up bunk beds.

“This is a wonderful thing to do,” Trustee Valerie Babka said.

Vera Brooks, community relations director for the village, said the entire community wrapped its arms around the project.

The idea for the bus project grew out of an ongoing mission at Christ Lutheran Church in Orland Park. Years ago, Sue Gross approached the congregation at Immanuel Lutheran seeking assistance in fundraising efforts for the ongoing Haitian Lutheran, Mission Project. That project was started in 2004 to help the people of the Jeremie District, where Pastor Jean Isaac Jacquet has his hands full trying to tend to the growing number of orphans.

Even before the debilitating earthquake two years ago, Haiti was besieged by poverty, malnutrition and disease. The earthquake added to the misery and to the astounding number of parentless children.

When Immanuel Lutheran Pastor Robert Bartz gathered congregants in the spring of 2010 to chat about a possible humanitarian project, the desperate need in Haiti — the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere — quickly came up.

The community coalition set an original goal of raising $30,000. But because so much of the work and so many of the supplies were donated, they were able to finish it faster for much less. They’re still taking donations, however, to offset the cost of fuel needed to get the bus to Miami.

And they hope that no surprises await them when the vehicle finally gets to the Caribbean nation. They’ve heard stories about corruption at the port. They’re praying that with the assistance of John Shattuck, a Frankfort businessman who has considerable experience moving humanitarian goods into Haiti, they will be able to get the bus to its destination.

Gary Marquardt and his wife Guillerma have helped since Day 1.

Guillerma said, “People ask, ‘Why help another country?’ I tell them, ‘Here, there are lots of places to get help. In Haiti, there’s nowhere to go.’ ”

Gary said there were a fair number of project setbacks along the way. The bus needed mechanical repairs and a new set of tires. At one point, the coalition received too many clothes and had to turn some donors away.

“Whenever an obstacle arose, the Lord showed us a way around it,” Bartz said.

Richton Park Library Board president Warrette Coleman said, “Everything about this project was done with a lot of joy. Everyone was willing to pitch in.”

Mayor Rick Reinbold pitched in, although he missed the final loading event because of jury duty.

Batterman, a former long-distance truck driver, said he expects to roll the brightly colored bus into Miami sometime Tuesday.

In its windows are yellow signs acknowledging some of the sponsors who helped make it possible to get there. But in the back window is a different sign.

It reads, “Haiti or bust.”