Seton Hill University is partnering with the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, who founded the university in 1885, to provide assistance to those in need in Haiti.

Donations, totaling nearly $10,800 to date, were collected last week from Seton Hill University faculty and staff, through senior seminar classes, at basketball games, by the baseball team, and from the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The donations will be given to Partners in Progress.

“I am truly inspired by the immediate response of the members of the Seton Hill community to assist those in need in Haiti. This response indeed continues our commitment to our mission and the legacy of Charity,” said Sister Lois Sculco, S.C., vice president for Mission and Student Life.

The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill have been working with the Sisters of Saint Antoine in Fondwa, Haiti, since 2005 to assist them financially with the construction of a motherhouse and formation center. The Sisters of Saint Antoine, a young religious community, provides the village of Fondwa with education and social services.

The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, with the Partners in Progress and the Sisters of Charity Federation, also worked to provide safe, clean drinking water for the residents of Fondwa. This endeavor, known as the Makaya Water Project, began in 2006. The Fondwa Peasants Association sought to eliminate the need for its residents to travel up to three hours daily to retrieve water from a spring. Through the Makaya Water Project, potable water is now available to the residents of the village of Fondwa.