REWARDING WORK—Simi Valley resident Lee Murray, center, and fellow missionaries Melyssa Gamble, left, and Deja Villegas relax with Katrina, Frankie and Oline at the Maison de Lumiere Orphanage in Haiti in 2009. Having spent the past two summers working at the orphanage outside Port-au-Prince, Murray was deeply affected by the news of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. For Lee Murray, the recent earthquake in Haiti hits close to home.

Murray has traveled to the island nation for the past two summers to work at a Christian-run orphanage in Port-au-Prince. She was up all night after Haiti’s Jan. 12 earthquake trying to find out what happened to the orphans.

“I was devastated because we didn’t know if the kids were alive,” the Simi Valley resident said.

Through numerous phone calls and e-mails among the network of missionaries in this country, Murray was able to learn about the damage to the Maison de Lumiere orphanage, which is 20 miles from downtown Port-au-Prince.

“We have a big group following the events, and everyone was e-mailing back and forth,” Murray said. “We got a message that they were okay, but one little girl had a broken leg.”

California-based missionaries Bill and Susette Manassero moved to Haiti to start a home for street children and founded Child Hope International in 2001.

The orphanage houses more than 100 children. The girls’ building sustained severe damage. The children were sleeping in the courtyard and the staff was running a triage out of the partially damaged boys’ building.

“They not only take care of the orphans but they take care of all the people in the surrounding neighborhood,” Murray said. “It’s like a large family. If someone needs something, they’re there to help.”

Murray, with the support of the Simi Valley EV Free Church, has organized an online auction to raise funds for the badly damaged orphanage. The auction runs Feb 1 through 12, with the exception of dated tickets to the L.A. Kings for the night of Thurs., Feb. 11—bidding on that auction item will end on Tues., Feb. 9. To participate, go to www.32auctions.com. The auction ID is Houseoflight and the password is oline1.

Steve Brewer, senior pastor for the 150-member church at 77 Tierra Rejada Road, said the congregation was more than happy to help.

“We supported the orphanage in the past and people like Lee who have gone to Haiti through . . . Child Hope International,” Brewer said. “We are helping to coordinate efforts to reach out and help people who have had such a difficult time.”

Murray received a message from the missionary network that the orphanage staff was able to get food. However, they were out of fuel to run the generator.

“We’re trying to raise the funds because it’s hard to get items delivered down there,” Murray said. “They need to buy food and fuel. They need help to rebuild and whatever else needs to be done.”

Murray is a receptionist at a local construction company. Her husband, Shawn, is a civil servant with the Department of the Navy. The couple have three grown children and four grandchildren.

She first traveled to the Haitian orphanage in 2008 with volunteers from other churches and locales. She was featured in an Acorn story at that time.

The poverty of the island nation struck Murray even before the earthquake.

“If we’re going to help people for the earthquake, we need to fix their structure,” Murray said. “Someone asked online, ‘Why should we help people that don’t help themselves?’—that’s not the point. We need to support these people because they don’t have anything to help themselves with.”

For information or to donate, e-mail hopeforhaiti2010 @yahoo.com or visit the websites www.childhope.org and www .simievfree.org