On Monday, Cardinal Chibly Langlois, the first Haitian to be named Cardinal, went to Jersey City City Hall (NJ) to help make plans for a fundraiser to benefit victims of Hurricane Matthew, which devastated Haiti in October.

Cardinal Langlois said that Haiti's immediate needs were food, water, materials to rebuild houses and buildings damaged or destroyed, and money "We have a lot of work to do."

Let's recall that Jersey City has a Haitian community of about 1,800 people, according to the latest census. Reverend Marc-Arthur Francois, pastor at St. Patrick and Assumption/All Saints Church, says his congregation includes a few hundred Haitian families, adding "The families that are here also have large families in Haiti, and there's tremendous poverty there obviously [...] We think we can have a big impact."

SL/ iciHaiti