Purple Cake Day to help Haitian children

Haiti earthquake survivor and Purple Cake Day Founder, Emily with her daughter Alyahna

A fun and educational resource pack teaching about life of Haitian children is now available for schools to download, announced Haiti earthquake survivor, Emily Sanson-Rejouis.

The Purple Cake Day is being launched on March 1st as a specific day to set aside each year to celebrate children and empower them to help children in need worldwide. The school pack has been put together by a team of educationalists and teachers to celebrate the inaugural Purple Cake Day.

Nelson resident Emily lost her husband Emmanuel and two daughters, Kofie-Jade (5) and Zenzie (3), in the Haiti earthquake on January 12th, 2010.  

Following the earthquake, Emily established the Kenbe La Foundation (‘Kenbe La’ means “Never Give Up” in Haitian Creole), a registered charitable trust, to provide educational opportunities for children in need. 

Since then, the Foundation has established the Purple Cake Day - a chance for children around the world to be celebrated, while they learn more about child poverty and think about ways of helping, while also having some fun.

“It is important that we take the time to appreciate the children in our lives, to honour and support them to become the best they can be,” Emily says. “Purple Cake Day gives us a chance to focus on the children around us and learn more about how we can help children who are less fortunate.”

Emily says the Purple Cake Day focus for 2011 are the children of Haiti; a country devastated by the severe earthquake last year, while already existing in extreme poverty. 

“Haiti still remains politically unstable and is struggling to rebuild, with an estimated 380,000 children still living in homeless camps and many with no access to schools,” she says. 

“Purple Cake Day 2011 provides a chance to learn about the country and the challenges its children face every day; and to raise money, which the Kenbe La Foundation will direct to building and equipping a new school.”

“Purple Cake Day events will be creative and fun,” Emily says. “Children are encouraged to be inventive with their own ideas on what they can do to learn more about children in need, or to raise funds to make a difference. They can wear purple, bake and sell cupcakes, write messages of hope, have a purple concert, or run a purple sports event.”

“We are encouraging schools to download the educational schools resource pack and run activities that help foster an understanding of challenges faced by children in need,” she says. 

For more information and to download the school pack, please visit www.purplecakeday.org.