RENTON — At St. Anthony Parish in Renton and St. Louise Parish in Bellevue, parishioners and students haven’t forgotten those in need in Haiti.

The situation there is dangerous: The U.S. government has advised against traveling to Haiti “due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure.”

So the two parishes have set aside special weeks each year to raise awareness about Haiti and to continue supporting St. Anne de Hyacinthe Parish and School, located 37 miles west and southwest of Port-au-Prince, the capital.

“It’s been an opportunity for the (local) parish and school to remember a country we may forget,” said Father Gary Zender, pastor of St. Louise, which began its relationship with Haiti in 2022.

In 2023, the local parishes signed a five-year covenant with St. Anne, outlining the ways the three parishes will interact. 

“I think of it as kind of a vow you make,” said Larry Reymann, a member of the Haiti committee at St. Anthony.

“It really is a beautiful covenant,” said Father Tom Belleque, pastor of St. Anthony. “The idea is to build a relationship with that community in mutual support,” he explained. “It allows us to expand our notion of universal church.” 

Father Gary Zender, center, pastor of St. Louise Parish in Bellevue, and Father Tom Belleque, right, pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Renton, look on as Father Frank Rouleau of Outreach to Haiti signs a five-year covenant between the local parishes and St. Anne de Hyacinthe Parish and School in Haiti in March 2023. Father Rouleau helped form the relationship. (Courtesy of Dawn McIntosh)

The Renton parish established a relationship with St. Anne in 2012, when Father Zender was the pastor. Two years earlier, Molly Hightower, the granddaughter of two St. Anthony parishioners, was volunteering with Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos in Haiti when she was killed in the 2010 earthquake.

“Everybody was emotionally connected to what happened,” Father Zender said. 

St. Anthony was paired with the school in Haiti through Outreach for Haiti, an organization in the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, that matches parishes in the U.S. with parishes in Haiti, Father Zender said. In 2012, the parish sent its first delegation to Haiti.

Today, St. Louise and St. Anthony jointly provide St. Anne $7,000 a month, which Reymann said helps pay for teacher salaries, school supplies, meals and vehicle maintenance and covers a 10% stipend to support Outreach for Haiti. 

The parishes’ commitment to paying teacher salaries helped St. Anne secure grant funding need to pay for construction of new school buildings, Reymann said. The number of teachers has grown to 25 and the student body has grown from about 60 elementary students to 300 elementary and high school students,  he said.

“They are determined to learn and get that education,” Reymann said, noting that last year the school graduated its first high school class — four boys and four girls. 

Reymann has visited Haiti five times, the last in 2017. 

“I feel enriched every time I go down there, and I pray for the day I can go back,” he said.

St. Anthony hasn’t sent a delegation to Haiti since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but Father Belleque said the parish will send a group “as soon as it is safe to go.”

This photo was taken in 2012, during the first visit of St. Anthony parishioners to Haiti. Father Gary Zender, who was pastor at the time, is in the center. (Courtesy St. Anthony Parish)

Supporting, advocating for Haiti

The parishes receive updates about St. Anne from Father Frank Rouleau of Outreach to Haiti, as well as an occasional email from Father Josue Seide, pastor of St. Anne.

To continue supporting St. Anne, each local parish is holding a fundraising dinner — March 2 at St. Anthony, March 9 at St. Louise.

This year, the parishes’ Haiti weeks included talks by Father Rouleau and homilies about Haiti from the local pastors, who swapped parishes on Feb. 18.

Both St. Anthony and St. Louise have schools, and their students are helping raise money for Haiti through “penny wars,” a competition to see which class collects the most money. One year, the St. Anthony students collected $1,000 in coins, said Deacon Michael Cantu, who is also school principal.

St. Louise students raised $750 for Haiti through a lunch of rice and beans on Ash Wednesday; other fundraising efforts last year included a spaghetti dinner and a “taco Tuesday,” said principal Mike Fuerte.

Members of both parishes are also advocating for Haiti by urging their congressional representatives to support Senate Bill 396, the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act of 2023. A letter to Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Reps. Adam Smith and Suzan DelBene was signed by 650 parishioners — 400 from St. Anthony and 250 from St. Louise.

Learn more

St. Louise Parish — Standing with Haiti page

St. Anthony Parish — Sister Parish page