It is with a heavy heart and a sense of urgency that I write you tonight.  We are all aware of the massive devastation that has fallen upon our brothers and sisters in Haiti.  I am writing you on behalf of their well being and offering the folks of AHMEN the opportunity to help in many different ways with the recovery efforts on the island country.  I have three friends that work with me at the Hudson Alpha Institute in Huntsville that have worked for years in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  The group HERO:  Haiti Emergency Relief Organization does exactly the kind of work in Haiti that you and I have done in Honduras.  They have a very capable distribution network for aid.  They have surgery capable clinics and several orphanages where they work with people on the ground there that organize their trips and work hand in hand with them to better the lives of the folks they serve.Today, a scout group from their organization made it into the country to assess all the damage to their compounds and develop a plan to help as many people as they can.  They discovered that there are 1800 people waiting for medical care, food and water at their main clinic and orphanage compound.  They do not have the medicine or the food and water on hand to handle this crowd or the countless others they could reach if they had the resources.  This is where we could come in.  In November/December many of our team leaders were blessed by receiving a large portion of granted medicine.  Right now the people of Haiti have a much greater need than our teams do for a summer trip to Honduras.  I am asking for your blessing for those of us that would like to donate their meds to HERO. HERO has partnered with Trinity UMC of Huntsville and now my home church of Good Shepherd UMC to begin a food collection drive.  They are in great need of dried beans, rice, powdered milk and powdered baby formula.  I urge the other churches represented in AHMEN to join us.  We have been working with Brother Ray Crump and the others at the North Alabama Conference Disaster Response Warehouse.  All food and medical items collected for this project will be shipped from this warehouse as soon as we can solidify the shipping.  Obviously there is also a great need for monetary donations as well if people would prefer to do this there are two ways you can do it.  Below is there website.  It is a great resource for information about their works and offers the option of making a donation on-line.   http://haiti411.com/haiti/  The second option would be to send a check by mail directly to:

 Trinity UMC607 Airport Road Southwest
Huntsville, AL 35802Attention: Haiti Food Drive Tom if you or anyone has any suggestions for or questions about the work that is being done here and in Haiti through HERO please contact merbeck@applied-genomics.com and Troy Moore troy@omegagenome.org .  Your brother in Christ,RodRodney A. Beck601 Genome Way Suite 2200Huntsville, AL 35806

Phone (256)533-2949