The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

August 6, 2012

Benefit event planned to purchase 2 houses

Staff Writer Calvin Adkins

TARBORO — The Edgecombe Entrepreneur Organization (EEO) will go out of the realm of its primary community and lend a humane hand to a country that remains desperately in need of help.

The EEO is raising money to buy two houses in Haiti.

At first glance, the” Houses for Haiti” project may seem like an astronomical undertaking — however, each house costs only $2,700.

“We saw another organization had done it and it became an interest to us,” said Joe W. Dickens, president of EEO. “Plus, it was the dire need of the situation that led us to us choose this human act.”

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated portions of Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010 — which was followed by at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater over the next 12 days.

Dickens recalled the assistance Edgecombe County received after it was devastated by Hurricane Floyd’s floodwaters in 1999. The flood destroyed hundreds of homes, including Dickens’. Assistance poured in to the county from persons near and far.

“A lot of our folks had to go to shelters,” Dickens said. “Our homeless situation was temporary. The people in Haiti are not (in a temporary situation).”

Dickens said EEO members discussed the idea of organizing a humane act in Edgecombe County.

“One of those thing that we looked at was the amount of it will take to have a real impact on a local situation,” Dickens said. “We’re talking about $2,700 to put a family in a home. There’s not a lot of things that we could have done locally, where $2,700 could have that much of an impact.”

One of the methods EEO will use to raise money is a “Flashback from the Past Fashion Show” at 6 p.m. Saturday at McIntyre Auditorium on the campus of Edgecombe Community College.  Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Persons attending the show are encouraged to wear clothes from the 1970s.

If EEO doesn’t reach its goal at the show, it will accept donations and will also solicit funds from individuals and organizations.

EEO, which is sponsored by the Edgecombe County Cooperative Extension Service, was organized in 1988 to provide small business owners the opportunity to form quality business partnerships, exchange information, discuss business issues and share success stories. EEO's largest fundraiser is the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, which has been recognized as one of the best in Eastern North Carolina.

Persons wishing to donate to EEO’s “Houses for Haiti” can get more information by calling 641-7815.



 

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