Cliff Satterwhite hopes South Carolina Baptist churches will get involved in a big way in a project led by Florida Baptists to provide direct food relief to the people of Haiti.
“Buckets of Hope,” 5-gallon buckets packed with rice, cooking oil, black beans, flour, sugar, spaghetti noodles and peanut butter will provide enough food for a family of 5-10 people for a week.
The contents will cost about $30 to buy, and it will take another $10 to ship one to Haiti, said Fritz Wilson, disaster relief director for the Florida Baptist Convention.
Satterwhite said Walmart is preparing to stock the buckets along with the items to fill them. He said the goal is to have Haitian churches distribute the buckets “so Haitians can look to the believers in the churches after we’re long gone.” He said one state Baptist convention has already committed to providing 5,000 filled buckets.
Churches or individuals interested in purchasing and filling buckets should first visit the North American Mission Board’s Web site (www.namb.net) for specific instructions. Officials have asked that the buckets be forwarded to Miami, Fla., by March 21 for shipment to Haiti.