By Brian K. Oliver*
What do 100 servings of lasagna, an Iowa made grain bin, and a play about a missing Boston cream pie have to do with helping people in Haiti with safe housing? Everything, if you are at Christ United Methodist Church’s dinner theater to raise funds for the South Tama County Huts for Haiti project.
The Huts for Haiti project began with Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Tama and other area churches, including Living Faith UMC in Tama and Christ UMC in Toledo, were soon invited to join in. The original goal was to raise $7,000 during Lent to build one “Safe T Home” in Haiti.
Safe T Homes are hurricane proof homes the resemble grain bins. The homes are manufactured here in Iowa by Sukup Manufacturing and are built in the field through
GoServe Global. More information is available at
goservglobal.org/safe-t-home.
Christ UMC has traditionally produced a dinner theater in odd numbered years to raise money for missions. This year the decision was made to donate the proceeds to the Huts for Haiti project and Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Tama agreed to make a generous donation to buy the food for the meal. On Palm Sunday evening nearly 100 people gathered in the fellowship hall for a lasagna dinner, with Boston cream pie for dessert, and a performance by church members of “And So They Had None” by Robert Alan Ward.
The dinner theater raised over $2,000 and a total almost $47,000 dollars was raised in the community during Lent, more than enough for six homes.
*Rev. Brian K. Oliver is pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Toledo and Living Faith (Tama-Moutour)
