Haiti Solar Oven Partners (HSOP) is excited to announce a blessing, and a challenge, that will help HSOP reach more Haitians with life-changing solar ovens and training.

Due to the generosity of anonymous donors, HSOP is now one step closer to raising the dollars necessary to support an associate director position. Rick Jost, HSOP Director has announced donor gifts totaling $6,000 to be used in a matching gift challenge to other HSOP supporters.

“The $6,000, when matched, will pretty much get us to our associate director fundraising goal, allowing us to advertise and hire for the position,” says Rick.

Solar oven demand necessitates position 

The quest to add the associate director position is a direct result of Haitian demand for more ovens and HSOP’s realistic goals for growth to help meet those demands. Jost explains that the person filling the position would have responsibilities for fundraising and grant writing, key to securing the necessary financing to grow the program. The associate director would also help carry the significant increase in workload associated with HSOP’s goal of distributing twice as many solar ovens annually as in the last few years.

“In light of the demand for, need of, and capacity to distribute solar ovens in Haiti, HSOP should do no less than grow from 1,150 to 2,300 solar ovens distributed to trained users annually,” says Rick Jost.

Striving to meet match by June 1 

The donors’ preference, Jost explains, is to complete the $6,000 match by June 1, 2014, in time to share the good news and the position announcement at the 2014 Dakotas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church June 5-7 in Rapid City, SD.

If you would like to be part of this special matching opportunity, you can designate gifts to “Haiti Solar Oven Partners” with a memo of “#670 Associate Director Match,” and mail to Dakotas Conference Office, PO Box 460, Mitchell, SD 57301-0460.  If your business or place of employment offers matching gifts, you might consider lifting up the HSOP Associate Director Match challenge.  All gifts will be gratefully acknowledged and are tax-deductible.