Dirt cookies: Campaign raises awareness of hunger in Haiti

Officials with Bright Hope International in Hoffman Estates, make no bones about it: Dirt cookies don't taste very good.

Then why are they sending packages of them to supporters, you ask?

The faith-based relief and development agency launched their new "Dirt Cookies" campaign last month. They see it as a way of raising money -- and awareness -- for the immediate and long-term needs of the people of Haiti.

Most recently, its campaign caught the attention of Washington officials. On Saturday, Craig Dyer of Hoffman Estates, Bright Hope president, accepted an invitation to speak about the "Dirt Cookies" campaign at a cultural event at the Haitian Embassy.

The open house event at the embassy, called "Passions for Haiti, Cherie," was part of the two-week Passport DC event, going on across the city, during which 55 embassies will open their doors -- and world culture -- to the public.

The Haitian Embassy event, alone, was expected to draw hundreds of people, organizers said.

"I didn't want it to be just a snapshot of Caribbean life," says Regine Rene, coordinator of the event for the Haitian Embassy. "I wanted it to include a real discussion on a hot topic. Dirt cookies is not a new phenomenon; it's been going on for decades, probably centuries, but in the last month or so it's been in forefront of the media.

"I searched the Internet for a group actually doing something about it," Rene adds, "and I found Bright Hope International."

Bright Hope's packages of six dirt cookies -- that are 100 percent organic and edible -- serve as a tangible reminder of the severe hunger crisis in Haiti, and of the extents to which people go to stay alive.

Bright Hope officials say that to alleviate hunger pains, people in Haiti are filling their stomachs with real "dirt cookies," made of dried yellow dirt, salt and vegetable shortening, in their desperate attempt to prolong life.

"Our cookies are a tool," Dyer says. "They are a tangible symbol of what hunger is all about, and are something that people can take to their workplace, school, church or other group to get the word out about the need."

Along with the cookies, the package also contains information cards about the campaign, including its partnership with 23 churches in Pignon, Haiti, who have identified the neediest families in the area, to receive the program's first benefits.

Specifically, these families will receive immediate food supplies and micro loans to plant their own vegetable gardens, which officials say, will lead to improved health and greater self-sufficiency.

For the last 15 years, Bright Hope International has focused its relief efforts on serving people living on less than $1 a day, says Dyer, a Prospect Heights native who took over as president in 1993.

"The whole idea is to help them, not just with immediate relief and economic assistance," he says, "but with emotional, psychological and spiritual assistance as well."

For the most part, Bright Hope partners with local churches to advance relief and economic development, but this campaign they see extending beyond their traditional supporters.

To find out more about Dirt Cookies, visit www.brighthope.org or call (224) 520-6100.