AOTA Conference Bags Get a Second Life, in Haiti
If you’ve ever used your bag from AOTA’s Annual Conference & Expo to carry groceries, tote things to and from work or school, act as a craft bag, or use as a carry on, you know how handy it can be.
You aren’t alone. At AOTA’s 2010 Conference in Orlando, Rose Fontana—wife of Paul Fontana, OTR, FAOTA, and secretary of AOTA’s Board of Directors—saw that the very colorful and useful tote bags could be perfect for the volunteer work she does with the mission of Fr. Glenn Meaux, SOLT, in Haiti.
Rose asked if AOTA would donate any leftover Conference bags to the mission. A few months later, she received a shipment of several large boxes at the Abbeville, LA, mission office . Several schools in Louisiana collected personal hygiene supplies for the 1,200 students in the mission school in Haiti. Volunteers stuffed the AOTA Conference bags with toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks, underwear, soap, small toys, pencils, and other items.
The filled AOTA Conference bags arrived in Haiti, and Rose and her daughter Rachel helped the missionaries distribute them to the children.
Rachel Fontana is a student at Louisiana State University studying to become an occupational therapist.
