The catastrophic earthquake and aftershock that struck Haiti in January 2010 devastated hundreds of thousands of lives and contaminated the national water supply.
In addition to the massive structural damage to Port-au-Prince and most other towns, weeks of heavy rain flooded local water sources and fields, spreading deadly bacteria and disease throughout the country. By October 2010, nearly 6,000 Haitians had lost their lives due to a cholera outbreak. Jon visited Haiti in July 2010, 6 months after the earthquake struck, with a delegation of tech executives tasked with helping Compassion International redesign and rebuild some of its technical infrastructure. Witnessing the bleak conditions, Jon was moved by the impact of the natural disaster on so many families and their living conditions.
In 2010 and 2011, the Venverloh Family Foundation directed funds to the Water of Life Filtration Project & Earthquake Recovery Efforts in Haiti through Compassion International. The funds supported crucial recovery projects to improve the lives of Haitians impacted by the natural disaster.
1 FILTRATION
Compassion International used the Venverloh Foundation contribution to purchase and distribute 56,000 Sawyer Point One Filters for families and workers throughout the country in desperate need of clean drinking water.
2 HYGIENE
The funds given by the Venverloh Family Foundation also provided training on safe hygiene practices to prevent the deadly spread of cholera.
3 CONSTRUCTION
The Venverloh Family Foundation’s donation to Compassion International also funded multi-year projects, which included rebuilding churches the earthquake had damaged or destroyed. Churches are often the most stable institutions in developing countries like Haiti, and locally are often at the center of community. Additionally, each Compassion project is typically associated with a local church.
Compassion International seeks to pull children out of poverty through one-on-one child sponsorship.
Jon and Mehridith Venverloh have been involved with the non-profit Compassion International since before they were married, beginning with child sponsorship.
What started as a practical way to share their blessings transformed the Venverlohs’ perspective as they witnessed the impacts of their sponsorships on the lives of children in poverty. Soon, Jon and Mehridith were sponsoring more than a dozen children across the world and seeking new ways to support Compassion International and make even more impactful contributions. The Venverloh Family Foundation’s donations to the non-profit continue to support numerous life-changing projects across the globe.
