Warrenton family lends support to people of Haiti

The Allens are on a mission.

A few weeks ago, the Warrenton family went to Haiti.

It was Jeanne Allen’s third trip and her husband Bob’s second trip within a year. The couple’s teenagers Zach and Jessica went for the first time.

Bob Allen said he and his wife first learned about the tremendous needs in Haiti through their church and quickly found they could help.

“We just found our niches,” said Bob Allen. “We found we could use our skills and knowledge to help folks down there.”

Jeanne Allen started working with teenage girls in northern Haiti. She teaches them how to make “marketable crafts” so they don’t have to wander the streets of Terrior Rouge and other villages.

Bob Allen, former soccer coach at Highland School, used his passion for the game to create an organization called Helping Haiti and Soccer (HANDS).

The organization collects used soccer balls, cleats and other equipment from teams, leagues and other groups to donate to Haitian teams.

“They have so little,” he said. “I first went to bring them soccer equipment so they can play. On my second trip, I started visiting soccer coaches and clubs. [It reinforced] there is such tremendous need.”

Allen brought two bags of soccer balls along in November. When he presented them to club officials, he said their reaction was especially moving.

“They pulled me into a room, closed the door and told me this was more than their government ever gave them,” he said.

In an area where people who live in mud huts are considered well off, kids play soccer on rocky dirt fields and make do with scant equipment because soccer is such an integral part of society. Boys, and to a lesser extent, girls, are defined by how well they play, Allen said.

Even so, trust and acceptance are hard-won.

“The soccer coaches said Americans have come before and said they wanted to help — but they never came back,”Allen said.

Undeterred, the Allens are raising money to go back in the spring. Bob Allen is also gathering balls for Warrenton businessman Tony Tedeschi to take with him when the Rotary Club goes to Haiti next month.

Bob Allen is also in the process of getting HANDS certified as a non-profit organization 501 (c3) and continuing to work with local, regional and national groups to collect more donations.

“These kids’ self-esteem and self-confidence is [so closely tied in] with soccer. By giving them a ball or equipment you truly are giving something special,” he said.

For Jessica Allen, 17, going to Haiti was a gift in and of itself.

“I work on [my school] yearbook so I have interviewed people who have been there,” she said. “I was really surprised at how friendly the Haitian people are. The hardest part was leaving.”

For more information about HANDS, contact Bob Allen through Facebook or call (540) 905-1549.