Haiti Empowered Launches Road Tour After COVID Ended Mission Trips

With Mission Trips Still Stalled, Haiti Empowered Takes Its Story Across the Country

Eagan, United States - October 9, 2026 / Creative Studio Productions /

Somewhere in Haiti this morning, a child walked to school hungry.

For more than 2,500 children, that walk ends at a Haiti Empowered school. There, they will be fed. They will sit in a classroom, hold a pencil, and learn to read. If they are sick, someone will notice and care for them.

For these children, a school is more than a school. It is where they eat, where they learn, and where they have access to healthcare. It is, for many of them, the safest and most hopeful place they know.

Last year, one of those schools was in danger of closing.

Haiti Empowered had fallen behind budget. The gap was real, and if it held, the organization faced a decision no nonprofit leader ever wants to make. A school would close. Meals would stop. Children would be sent home to a country where home often has nothing to offer.

The numbers explain why that mattered so much.

More than half of Haiti's people now face acute hunger. Over 1.8 million are in the emergency phase, in urgent need of food.

An estimated 253,725 young children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition over the coming year.

And one in seven Haitian children is already out of school, with nearly a million more at risk of dropping out.

Behind every one of those numbers is a child. Haiti Empowered was not willing to add 2,500 more.

Kay Larson, the organization's president, knew the answer would not come from cutting back. It would come from helping more people see what she sees every day.

"As a nonprofit, you cannot afford to skimp or to neglect your branding and your messaging," she said.

Haiti Empowered had the story. It had faithful supporters who believed in the mission. What it needed was a simple, compelling way for them to respond, and its donor system made anything beyond a basic donation form hard to build.

So Larson contacted Creative Studio Productions, the Eagan-based creative agency that had worked alongside her team for years.

Together, they built a campaign called Adopt a Box. CSP custom coded a campaign page and connected it to Haiti Empowered's existing CRM, so every gift went exactly where it needed to go. Supporters could adopt a box at any level, from $25 to $1,000. A college student could give what she had. A longtime partner could give generously. Everyone had a way to stand with the children.

Then Haiti Empowered told the story. Not a list of needs, but the faces behind them. The children. The classrooms. The meals. What was at stake, and what one gift could protect.

People answered.

In thirty days, Haiti Empowered raised $42,000, surpassing its $40,000 goal, on top of its regular giving.

"Not only did we achieve our goal, but we exceeded it," Larson said.

The budget was caught up. The school stayed open. And those more than 2,500 children continued walking through its doors to a meal, a lesson, and someone who cares whether they are well.

For Larson, the campaign was one chapter in a long partnership, and she speaks about it the way most people speak about family.

"They will take my little idea that I bring to them, and they'll make it so much better because they ask good questions," she said. "They truly are an extension of our team. We could not do what we do without them."

Then she paused, and said something no one takes lightly.

"I can honestly say I don't know that we would still be existing if it wasn't for them."

The story is not finished. This year, Haiti Empowered is behind budget again, and this time the gap is larger. The organization is feeding children on credit. It needs $150,000 just to cover what rising costs have added this year.

The reasons are difficult to see from the outside.

For years, mission trips were how most people encountered Haiti Empowered. They traveled to Haiti, met the children and the Haitian team, and came home changed. They became sponsors, advocates, storytellers, and long-term partners. That was how the mission found its next generation of supporters.

When mission trips stopped during COVID, the work continued. But that pipeline largely disappeared.

At one point, child sponsorship made up about 75 percent of Haiti Empowered's income. Today, it is closer to 47 percent.

At the same time, everything costs more. Food. Fuel. Medical supplies. Transportation. Wages for the Haitian team who keep the schools running.

Fewer new people are meeting the mission, and every meal costs more to serve.

So Larson is doing the next best thing. If people cannot come to Haiti, she will bring Haiti's story to them.

Right now, she is on The Empowered Road, a cross-country journey to share the mission in person and introduce a new generation of supporters to the children who are counting on them.

Thirty days once saved a school. This time, it will take a whole community.

The Empowered Road runs on introductions. Here is how you can open a door:

• Introduce Haiti Empowered to someone by email.
• Connect them with your church, business, foundation, or community.

Request a meeting or gathering at haitiempowered.org/haiti-empowered-road, email a referral (with their permission) to [email protected], and tell someone why this mission matters to you.

One introduction can become a relationship. And one relationship can help sustain this work for years to come.

Contact Information:

Creative Studio Productions

3459 Washington Drive, Ste #104A
Eagan, MN 55122
United States

Jonathan Oney
15072131067
https://haitiempowered.org

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