Scientology Volunteer Ministers receive key to the city of North Miami

| Miami, Florida 19 March 2010 |

Church of Scientology representative Pat Harney accepts the key to North Miami Beach and a proclamation from City Council member John Patrick Julien and State Representative candidate Daphne D. Campbell commending the work of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Haiti.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers chain many tons of donated relief supplies onto a former US Coast Guard icebreaker, chartered by the Church of Scientology to transport medical personnel, equipment, supplies and Volunteer Ministers to Haiti. Donations included an ambulance, pickup truck and cookstoves.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers and members of the local Haitian community load donated equipment and supplies onto a Haiti-bound ship chartered by Scientologists.
A Scientology-sponsored ship is loading up with supplies for Haiti, including wood-burning stoves from the charity founded by Lola Poisson-Joseph, wife of the Haitian Ambassador to the United States. The 896-ton ship, Hornbeam, a former US Coast Guard icebreaker, is transporting more than 100 tons of cargo to Haiti including an ambulance and more than 20,000 “meals ready to eat.”

In a dockside ceremony welcoming the Hornbeam to Miami, North Miami Beach City Council member John Patrick Julien presented the Scientology Volunteer Ministers with the key to the City of North Miami Beach on behalf of Mayor Myron Rosner and a proclamation dedicating a day to Scientology Volunteer Ministers for their work in Haiti.

Also present were Phillip Brutus, former Florida State Representative and current candidate for US Congress; Daphne D. Campbell, RN, Haitian community leader and candidate for the Florida State House of Representatives; Marleine Bastien, executive director and cofounder of Haitian American Women Association and the Haiti Relief Task Force; and Marie Yolaine Ferdilus, co-chair of Haitian Relief Task Force and founder of Legal Protection of America.

Since the January 12 earthquake, the Church of Scientology has transported more than 450 medical professionals and 300 Volunteer Ministers to Haiti. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers continue to provide support to doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians, deliver food and water to the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps, and help with reconstruction, disaster response training and trauma relief.

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers’ disaster response activities, visit blog.volunteerministers.org.