What does a six foot-two, 240-pound retired detective from the Windsor Police Service do with his spare time? If you’re a people-oriented person named Frank Chauvin, you continue to follow your calling in life and give of yourself to help others.

Frank always cared. He cared about children in need, so he joined the Windsor Police Clown Troupe years ago. Putting smiles on faces then became a way of life. Whether it was delivering truckloads of food, clothes and furniture to people in need in eastern Ontario, reuniting Vietnamese "boat people" with their families or getting 91 tons of rice to Toronto en route to 30 Third World Nations, Frank made sure it happened. Recognizing a need to organize his efforts for causes like these and many others, Frank established the Holy Name of Mary Food Fund.

In 1988, Frank accompanied a physician to Haiti in order to observe first hand, a nation in need. While there, he was introduced to a detention centre for unwanted, unloved girls. A $17,000 donation Frank received at his retirement party, was the catalyst to found the “Le Foyer des Filles Chretiennes Orphanage” for girls age 3 to 18. At 25,000 square feet, the orphanage includes two dormitories, two classrooms, a medical clinic and an administration building with a cooking area. It has been said that this world has very few Frank Chauvins.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010 changed everything. Three 18 year old girls and one worker from the orphanage were killed that day and the buildings are now declared unsafe for the girls. The numbers of orphans are rising by the day due to abandoned children in the aftermath of the quake and the demand for food, clothing and medical supplies is far outweighing the supply. The girls are now huddled in a courtyard for safety and help is very difficult to find. What Frank Chauvin helped to build over the past 22 years was crumbled in minutes.

However, Frank Chauvin knows that hope is born out of people who never give up. He’s faced it before and he’s facing it again. The problem now, is that the task is too daunting for just a few individuals. Frank needs your help. A new future for the orphanage will take time. The short-term need is obvious in food, shelter and medical supplies. The long-term need is to build a new facility; one that will stand forever as a testament to Frank Chauvin’s original dream, because it matters to the orphaned girls of today and of tomorrow.

Please consider making a donation to the “Holy Name of Mary Food Fund” now, and help ensure that necessities are provided while the long rebuilding process begins at Frank’s Orphanage in Haiti.