MIAMI GARDENS (Le Floridien) – This year marked the 14th annual Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church Back-to-School Health Fair, and hundreds of families showed up at the church parking lot in Miami Gardens on Saturday, August 6, to receive essential school supplies for their children.
This annual event is one of the most popular and well-organized of its kind, and it doesn’t require too much advertisement since the regular participants say it’s not to be missed on the first Saturday of August. The 2022 edition took place from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, and, once again, it was a major success.
Besides Primary Medical Center & Urgent Care Clinic, one of the loyal sponsors, Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church partners with many organizations and other companies headquartered in South Florida. Some donate monetary funds, some donate supplies, and some help with food.
It’s really a community effort, a team effort, and Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church facilitate the process, in addition to the members’ contributions, both monetary and voluntary.
Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church, a community oriented temple, one of the largest and oldest Haitian churches in the U.S., has a long history. It was founded in 1975 and was originally operated under the name, Haitian Christian Society.
If it’s true that this Miami Gardens church is essentially a Haitian denomination, with up to 98 percent of congregants of Haitian descent, the event itself targets all ethnic groups in the region. In other words, the beneficiaries of this event are not just Haitian kids; they include Latinos, Jamaicans, Bahamians, and others. The event is promoted on many popular radio shows in South Florida. Participants who attended from previous years brought others with them, knowing this was the place to come on the first Saturday of August. Every year the expectation is higher and organizers always find ways to amply supply everyone who shows up.
Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church’s Back to School Health Fair is a community event where the kids typically received free backpacks, free school supplies, and free health screenings. It is also known as a fun day for the kids. A DJ used to welcome the participants outside the entrance with music, there was free food and refreshments available inside, too. Up to a few years ago, two bounce houses had been available for the kids to enjoy a little good time, but due to Covid 19 protocol, the organizers were not able to accommodate participants inside the church for the past three years.
Around 6 o’clock in the morning, Bethel Baptist Church members, Primary Medical employees and other volunteers were getting ready in the north section of the large parking lot of the church – located at 17601 NW 2nd Avenue (441) in Miami Gardens – where several tents were set up for the distribution. The facilitators volunteered their time to make sure the whole process went smoothly.
As it was for the last past two editions, this year’s was a drive-thru for school bags and supplies, as well as the food distribution event. The line of vehicles stretched almost a mile out onto State Road 7/441 starting at 8 o’clock in the morning. Parents and their kids arrived with the trunk of their vehicles open as no walk-ups were allowed. The volunteers helped with distribution by placing the items into the trunks of vehicles as they drove by.
“I have the privilege for the last fourteen years to lead the team who organizes this event,” said the event coordinator, Brother Wesley Delerme, who is Chairman of the Deacon Board at Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church. “Bethel Baptist Church is community oriented, we feel blessed that God puts us in that position to help the community at large. It is not only about preaching the gospel; we have to think about helping those in need during such hard times as families have been in a financial crisis for nearly a year now. That is why we take pleasure in organizing such event. For us it is a duty.”
Asking how many families the event serves this year, Delerme said, “Prior to Covid when we used to organize the event inside the church, we normally welcomed over three thousand people, but since it is a drive-thru format this year, it is a little difficult to make the accounting. But I can say we have school supplies for seven hundred kids and food for over 800 families.”
Talking about the collaboration between the church and Primary Medical Care Center, Delerme said it is indescribable, before adding that everybody knows that its founder, Prinston Jean-Glaude, is a ‘child’ of the church. It is always a pleasure for both (Bethel and Primary) to join forces to organize this community event.
About the church volunteers, Delerme sent some gratitude toward them. “All the volunteers were very enthusiastic to help in the process. Dr. Keny Felix, Ph.D., LMHC, LPC, the church pastor, in his sermon always puts emphasis on the importance of serving; not serving each other as members, but serving the community at large. This is a kind of leitmotiv for us.”
“By taking part in this community event annually, we at Primary Medical Care Center want to answer the need of some parents for the new school year,” said Prinston Jean-Glaude, Founder and CEO of Primary Medical.
“For me as a business owner,” Jean-Glaude added, “this annual event is a way to practice the notion of giving back to the community. I hold it from my heart, because I believe that education is a way out of poverty and that I have a responsibility to help make students in our community better equipped to start each school year, since we know that many families are in need. Assisting in this way helps to ensure kids have a great start to the school year.”
As contributions this year, upon the request of the church, Primary gave away hundreds of bags full of food. “Most of the people we serve are repeat participants. They know the date, every first Saturday of the month of August,” he added.
Althiery Leandre, Senior Marketing manager, who took part at the community event, also put emphasis on the culture of giving back to the community established at Primary. He pointed out how, through giving back, employees bond with one another and help create a company culture of empathy and caring.
“We don’t come here today with the idea of using an opportunity to market the company,” Leandre proudly explained. “God already blessed Primary with so many patients who trust our staff. That’s why we feel like it is imperative to use part of our blessings to bless others in need with the minimum we can contribute to this community event. There is a solid bond between
our staff and the patients. The reason behind that is we treat them with respect and dignity, like family members. We make sure anytime they step foot in one of our clinics, they feel like home.”
Pastor Jean Voltaire, who works as marketing liaison on the marketing team, explained the relationship between health and spirituality.
“Yes, as a Pastor, I am at Primary to guide people spiritually,” Pastor Voltaire added. “But, as you know, in Christian theology, there is a theory called tripartite view (trichotomy). It holds that humankind consists of three distinct parts: body, spirit, and soul. The body needs to well-taken care of. You need someone to tell you that Primary is there to help you with that part with respect and dignity; a clinic which welcomes patients as family.”
An event like this is where community becomes stronger, where children in need with a new backpack filled with grade-specific school supplies see they are not alone, and where neighbors support one another. It’s an inspiring moment of the year to witness all that true love, generosity, and kindness can do no matter the size of the community.
There is no doubt that those new backpacks and school supplies will particularly enable these youths to engage in learning from the first day of school. It’s a way to provide them some essential resources to succeed academically.
Wherever there is a need, we, as people, are called to find ways to meet them. Very few of us actually live out that calling, but Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church and Primary Medical Center are brilliant lights shining on the proverbial hill, reminding us each year, the first Saturday of August, just what true caring looks like. May we each be reminded not only of the real, pressing needs surrounding us every day, but that overcoming poverty and challenges is made possible not on our own efforts, but through a community coming together in love.
Dessalines Ferdinand
