Molly Hightower: one of the losses in Haiti

The Pacific Northwest is mourning the tragedy in Haiti along with the rest of the world. At the Portland Trailblazers basketball game Friday night $65,000 in relief donation funds were collected from players and the crowd attending the game, an example of the outpouring of love and concern we're seeing around here.

There is a loss that has hit close to home, which you may have noted in the memorial at my sidebar. Molly Hightower was a recent graduate of the University of Portland and had been working in Haiti since June with disabled children for "Friends of the Orphans."

The Oregonian reports that:

. . . Molly majored in psychology, sociology, and French Studies, and studied in Paris in the summer of 2007. She was “a very gifted student of French and a wonderful person in every sense,” according to mentor and professor of French Trudie Booth...

While in Haiti, Molly wrote about her experiences at the orphanage in a blog.

Molly was believed to be on the fifth floor of the building when the powerful quake occurred. Rachel Prusynski, of Boise, Idaho, a friend of Molly’s who also graduated last May from the University, was pulled from wreckage of the seven-story building on Tuesday and was transported to Florida, where she is recovering from injuries...

There will be a memorial mass for her today at noon at the University of Portland. Because I did not know her personally I won't attend, but my thoughts will be with her family and friends throughout the day.

I am posting this video created by Molly only last month as a tribute to a beautiful and caring young woman who had so much to give.......and did.


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