POUGHKEEPSIE, NY.- This winter the Vassar Haiti Project will present two programs of off the Vassar campus. There will be a Haitian art and handcraft sale at the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester in Hartsdale, NY, on Sunday, January 31, from 9:00am - 6:00pm. This event will feature 200 original Haitian paintings, unique gifts, silk scarves, jewelry, and iron sculpture (High School Chapel, on 555 West Hartdale Avenue, Hartsdale).

Opening the same day, Sunday, January 31, will be an exhibition and sale of Haitian Art on view at the Gertrude C. White Gallery in the YWCA of Greenwich, CT, through February 26. The Vassar Haiti Project will host a gallery reception on Friday, February 5 from 6:00 - 8:00pm, featuring live entertainment plus a display of a wide variety of Haitian handicraft (259 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut).

The Vassar Haiti Project is an all-volunteer organization at Vassar College that was founded eight years ago with the initial purpose of constructing a primary school in the village of Chermaitre in northwest Haiti. Today, the project has 100 members and maintains its initial commitment to funding primary education, while also pursuing partnership efforts to improve reforestation, education, access to clean water, and healthcare in the village. About 16 project members plan to visit Haiti in March 2010 to check on the progress of these initiatives, and will see for the first time the medical clinic that opened earlier this year.

The proceeds from these sales will support the "Education: Here and There Initiative," which seeks to educate on three levels: support of the school in Chermaitre, raising awareness of Haiti in the Vassar and Poughkeepsie communities, and educating project members about Haiti and the successful operation of a non-profit organization. The funds from these sales will help subsidize a portion of the traveling costs for student project members who will travel to Haiti during Spring Break, March 2010.

The annual Vassar Haiti Project show and sale at the college will be held in April 2010. For further information about the Vassar Haiti Project, visit http://projects.vassar.edu/haiti.