By Dessalines Ferdinand
MIAMI GARDENS (Le Floridien) – It is undeniable that the Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church’s Back to School Health Fair is one of the most popular and well-organized events of its kind, and regular participants say it’s not to be missed on the first Saturday of August.
This year marked the 11th annual event with sponsors and volunteers mobilizing to serve hundreds of students who lack access to basic and necessary school supplies. The 2019 edition was held on Saturday, August 3rd from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, and, once again, it was a huge success.
Participants received an abundance of items and services at this event: free backpacks, free school supplies, free health screenings and information for children and adults. There were also a lot of activities children enjoyed, such as a bounce house, face painting, balloon art, and food distribution.
Around 6 o’clock in the morning, staff members were getting ready inside Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church, located at 17601 NW 2nd Avenue (441) in Miami Gardens. Volunteers were also on the move in the north section of the large parking lot where a total of seven tents were set up for the food distribution. The facilitators wanted to make sure the whole process went smoothly. By 8 o’clock, a long line filled with parents and their kids was already forming.
While a DJ welcomed the participants outside the entrance door with music, free food and refreshments were available inside. Two bounce houses were installed for the kids to enjoy a little bit of fun.
Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church, 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 of the Haitian Christian Society. The Haitian community had just started building in early 1970’s; there were very few churches where Haitians could worship in their own language (French and Creole). A group of devoted Christians then decided to join forces and start a worship movement.
The weekly Sunday service took place for months at the private residence of one of its members (Rev. Franck Francois). Worship services were then held at a rental location at 44th Street and NW 2nd Avenue. In 1978, the congregation moved to a new location at 7610 Biscayne Boulevard. It was at this time the name of the church was changed to Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church.
In December 1984, Bethel purchased a new building located at 3516 NW 7th Ave (Miami), the place that served as its worship center from 1984 to 2005. By 2005, a larger location (its current building at 17601 NW 2nd Avenue, a building which was formerly a bowling alley) was purchased to house the growing church.
The annual fair is a joint effort of the church community that is guided by a collective leadership. More than 1,200 people attended this year’s edition and a total of 187 church members proudly volunteered their time to help in the process. They helped create a smooth and fun process for kids and parents alike, manning registration tables and coordinating the outside waiting line and indoor activities.
“By organizing this annual event, we want to answer to the need of some parents for the new school year,” said the event coordinator, Brother Wesley Delerme, who is Chairman of the Deacon Board at Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church. “For us as a church, this annual event every first Saturday of the month of August is a way to practice the notion of giving back to the communities. As you can see, the participants are from different ethnic groups.”
“Today, kids are receiving school supplies,” he added. “We know many families are in need. Assisting in this way helps to ensure kids have a great start to the school year.”
Every year, organizers add some new elements to the event in order to make it bigger and more exciting for the participants. This year, the kids enjoyed the bounce houses. Complete with breakfast and face painting, this family-friendly event was a great way to welcome in the new school year. Parents accompanying the kids also received bag of fresh food from Farm Share.
The event brought out a large number of parents and students who packed into Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church to receive free medical screenings and get their school supplies. Attendees moved from one station to the next, receiving items that ranged from loose-leaf paper, books, pencils, backpacks, crayons, to health screenings that included vision, hearing, and head lice checks.
The seriousness of the church leadership has attracted new sponsors to come on board and support the event each year. “We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our loyal sponsors, such as Primary Medical Care Center, Planet Radio 1580 AM, Loving Care, The Children’s Trust, Sant La, and the Offices of Miami-Dade Commissioners Barbara J. Jordan (District 1) and Jean Monestime (District 2),” said Delerme.
“This is a very important event for the church because this is an opportunity to meet the community at their point of need,” said Dr. Keny Felix, Ph.D., LMHC, LPC, who took over the church in January 2016 as senior pastor. Dr. Felix succeeded his father Reverend Saint-Louis Felix who served for 35 years. After spending seven years serving as Dean of Richmont’s Schools of Counseling & Psychology in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Felix moved down to South Florida. “We know we have many families in our community that are food challenged, that need basic assistance from time to time. The opportunity to partner with Farm Share to be able to supply groceries to hundreds as we saw today is definitely part of our mission, part of our calling to help feed the community.”
“We are more than glad to see the turnout today, seeing hundreds receiving groceries and visiting the countless vendors to introduce them to resources out in the community. But not only that, the screenings, the back-to-school supplies we were able to provide and the countless vendors took part to offer their services. We really believe that the church can be a central place where individuals can come to for different needs. We are very glad that we have the privilege to make an impact,” added Dr. Felix.
For the annual Back to School Health Fair, Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church partners with many organizations and companies headquartered in the region. Some donate monetary funds, some donate supplies, and some help with the food. It’s really a community effort, a team effort, and Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church helps facilitate the process, in addition to the member’s contributions, both monetary and voluntary.
Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church not only ministers to the Haitian community; part of its mission is to minister to the community at large since South Florida is a diverse community. The beneficiaries are not only Haitian kids; they include Latinos, Jamaicans, Bahamians, as well as others. The event is promoted on HOT 105 FM, Planet Radio 1580 AM/The Morning Drive Talk-Show. The word spreads in the communities and participants who attended from previous years brought others with them, knowing this is the place to come the first Saturday of August. Every year the expectation is higher and organizers always find a way to supply everyone who shows up.
The organizers were thrilled by the turnout. They couldn’t have done this great event without the support of generous donors or the committed volunteers who sorted the supplies and packed the backpacks.
“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,” said Princeton Jean-Glaude, founder and CEO of Primary Medical Center & Urgent Care Clinic in Miami, one of the loyal sponsors of this annual event. “Every year we help by giving those participants at this event the opportunity to start the school year off full of confidence. Those new backpacks and school supplies will 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.”
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 in the year to witness all that true love, generosity, and kindness can do no matter the size of the community.
Dessalines Ferdinand
ferdinand@lefloridien.com