•The Pilot Club of Babylon is holding its annual High Tea for Senior Citizens on Sunday, April 11th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church on East Main Street in Babylon. The Tea is free, but Pilot does ask that you bring a canned good as a donation. Seating is very limited, so please call Alicia Catania at 661-4979 or Jerri Romeo at 661-3302 for reservations.

•TheBabylon Village Historic Fountain Project is holding an 1890’s Celebration and Fundraiser on March 24th. There will be entertainment and a live auction at the celebration, as well as hors d’oeuvres, a buffet, and an open bar. Tickets are $75.00 each. Call 587-0335 for tickets.

•On Saturday, March 13th, the Nathaniel Conklin House is hosting an Irish theme musician and singer in honor of St. Patrick’s Day from 3-4:30 at 280 Deer Park Ave., Babylon Village. Admission is free, but please, reserve early, as space is limited. Call 631-669-8164 and leave your name and phone number.

•The Babylon Rotary has raised $11,000 for relief in Haiti, $1,000 over their original goal. They have contributed to three great charities. $5,000 to Shelterbox (www. shelterbox.org). At the heart of every ShelterBox is a tenperson tent, with privacy partitions. In addition to the tent, the boxes contain a range of other survival equipment including thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets, essential in areas where temperatures plummet at nightfall. Where malaria is prevalent mosquito nets are supplied, as well a life saving means of water purification. Water supplies often become contaminated after a major disaster, as infrastructure and sanitation systems are destroyed, this presents a secondary but no less dangerous threat to survivors than the initial disaster itself.

A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers and wire cutters can be found in every box. These items enable people to improve their immediate environment, by chopping firewood or digging a latrine, for example. Then, using the tools when it is possible, to start repairing or rebuilding the home they were forced to leave. Every item is durable, practical and brand new. The box itself is lightweight and waterproof and has been used for a variety of purposes in the past - from water and food storage containers to a cot for a newly born baby. A key piece in every box is either a wood burning or multi-fuel stove - that can burn anything from diesel to old paint. This provides the heart of the new home where water is boiled, food is cooked and families congregate. Every box contains a children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens. For children who have lost most, if not all, their possessions, these small gifts are treasured.

•Thesecond project is Pure Water for the World, which also received $5,000. Lack of clean, safe drinking water is a global problem that we’re helping to solve. We help the rural poor in developing countries have clean, safe drinking water, giving them health and hope that leads to opportunity. The goal of Pure Water for the World, is to prevent children from dying and suffering from contaminated water that causes pain and misery associated with intestinal parasites and illness. We do this by providing sustainable, clean, safe drinking water systems to families and communities in developing countries. Be a part of the U.N. Millennium Development Goal to provide a sustainable source of clean, safe drinking water to half of the 1.2 billion people without access to this essential human need (www.purewaterfortheworld.com).

•Thethird project received $1,000. Life and Hope Haiti, a tax-exempt non-profit organization, was formed by Haitian American woman from West Babylon who wanted to give something back to her homeland. Since 2001, the organization has built a schoolhouse and educated children in Milot, a town in northern Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere. Most of these children would not have gone to school without the work of this organization. In addition to giving children the education so necessary for any underdeveloped country to progress, Life and Hope provides meals and medical care. The organization is now working on building a link to high school for motivated children, as well as an orphanage for children left without parents (www.lifeandhopehaiti.org) Congratulations to the Rotary!