(Spirit Lake)– A local bank is donating to a Haiti relief group that has direct ties to Iowa.
Central Bank announced Monday it recently donated 10-thousand dollars to Hearts with Haiti. The organization was founded in 1985 by Algona native Michael Gielenfeld. Gielenfeld is a former member of Mother Teresa’s Brothers of Charity and a past student of Father James Smith of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spirit Lake.
Hearts with Haiti provides financial support to the St. Joseph’s Family of Homes based in Port Au Prince. The homes take disabled and homeless children off the streets providing them with shelter, education, medical treatment and opportunities in arts and academics.
The January 12th earthquake destroyed the six-story St. Joseph Home. Most of the children were outside at the time and weren’t injured. But Ben Larson, a 25-year-old missionary who was born in Storm Lake, was killed. Ben was a senior at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque and was visiting Haiti for a January term project.
