Overview:
Haitian-founded nonprofit Stand Up To Poverty held its Hearts & Helium Profit Gala in New York to assist a medical mission to Uganda. The group, based by Astrid Fidelia and Jean Alfred, has led outreach applications throughout 4 continents since 2018.
As a baby rising up in a Haitian immigrant household on Lengthy Island, Astrid Fidelia was typically the one to translate for her dad and mom. These lengthy walks up and down the steps of their colonial dwelling, relaying solutions between guests and her non-English-speaking dad and mom, taught her find out how to ask questions — and find out how to serve others.
“I noticed early on that giving again and serving to others was simply a part of who I’m,” Fidelia mentioned.
That spirit of service finally led Fidelia and fellow Haitian immigrant Jean Alfred to co-found Stand Up To Poverty (SU2P), a Hauppauge, N.Y.-based nonprofit that gives free medical care and humanitarian help in underserved communities world wide.
On Saturday, Oct. 18, the group hosted its Hearts & Helium Profit Gala on the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan to lift funds for a medical mission to Uganda’s Luwero-Kampala neighborhood deliberate for February 2026.
The black-tie occasion united neighborhood leaders from throughout the globe, together with representatives from the Ugandan consulate, members of the United Nations from China and Thailand, and Haitian, Colombian and Nigerian officers. The night raised greater than $50,000 for the upcoming mission.
The gala, hosted by actress Tiffany Lily Walker and comic A.G. White, featured dinner, leisure and an awards ceremony recognizing advocates for international well being and humanitarian work. DJ Osocity offered music all through the night.
The group honored a number of people, together with Yahaya Abubakar, ruler of Nigeria’s Nupe Kingdom, for his work increasing major healthcare entry. Dr. Marie Johanne Dupiton of Camkids, Olympic gymnast Frederick Richard and philanthropist Gary Kong additionally acquired awards.
Attendees included Jean Ary Ceant, consul common of Haiti in New York, and Ugandan Ambassador Duncan Muhumuza.
“Healthcare is a common proper, not a privilege,” Fidelia mentioned on the occasion. “The Hearts & Helium Profit permits us to return collectively in love and generosity to increase care to communities that want it most.”
Since its first mission to Haiti in 2018, SU2P has led humanitarian journeys to El Salvador, Nigeria, and Colombia, reaching greater than 10,000 sufferers via clinics that present dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and common medical care.
Dupiton, who has lengthy supported the group’s outreach overseas, has described her experiences on previous missions as a number of the most significant of her medical profession.
“I didn’t hesitate one second to affix Stand Up To Poverty for his or her medical mission in El Salvador,” she mentioned. “Having the ability to serve the households in El Salvador was really a rewarding expertise.”
One case notably moved her: an 11-year-old boy recognized with acute appendicitis who wanted speedy switch to the closest hospital. Regardless of his struggling, the boy appeared relieved that the staff was caring for him and that assist was on the way in which. Dupiton discovered the following day that he had safely reached the town hospital after a one-hour journey, undergone surgical procedure, and was recovering. She described the expertise as priceless.
“When Haiti turned too harmful for our volunteers, we needed to discover different methods to serve,” Fidelia mentioned. “We took the mission international as a result of poverty and lack of entry to healthcare are in all places.”
The group’s subsequent cease is Uganda, the place volunteers will journey from Feb. 26 to March 10, 2026, to ship medical companies to rural communities. Fidelia and Alfred mentioned the journey will mirror SU2P’s earlier missions, combining medical work with academic programming and native partnerships.
Past healthcare, the group additionally helps meals distribution, reasonably priced housing, and teaching programs. It not too long ago partnered with Digital City Farm to create an indoor agriculture initiative that grows natural produce for meals banks and creates jobs in low-income neighborhoods.
For Fidelia, considered one of her most memorable moments got here throughout a medical mission in southern Haiti, when she met a younger mom affected by a extreme breast abscess.
“She was in ache for months however too embarrassed to inform anybody,” Fidelia mentioned. “Our medical doctors had been capable of deal with her, and by the top of the week she was smiling once more. That’s once I realized how life-changing this work might be.”