Karen Huxter, Founder & Director of Hands Across the Sea
In honour of International Women’s Day, Hands Across the Sea celebrated our founder, Karen Huxter. At the age of 50, she started a whole new adventure in Haiti. Planning to spend a year, she has now been there 22 years. Against all odds, she began working with needy children in the Artibonite Valley and has grown HATS into a children’s home with 18 beautiful children, a school teaching over 500 children from preschool to grade 12, and an invaluable community outreach and mercy ministry program helping needy families in the area.
Karen Huxter, Founder & Director
Karen proves that it is never too late to reinvent yourself, that impossible dreams can come to fruition with hard work, and that one woman can make a difference!
Join us in celebrating Karen and her tremendous accomplishments.
(Credit: Portions of this text sourced from Liette Wilson’s personal Facebook post.)
Words of Kindness
Yesterday morning I happened to check my Facebook feed and noticed a heartfelt post from Liette, honouring her mom. I was touched and immediately realized I needed to do something similar on every social media platform I had access to. I quickly posted on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages. While I felt great pride in being able to share these posts, I had no idea the wheels that had been set in motion.
By early afternoon our Facebook post had been viewed more than 5000 times and by the time I went to bed it had surpassed 10,000!!! As I write this post this evening, one full day later, the post now shows 13,686 views. Wow! Thank you to Karen’s daughter, Dana, for giving the post a “boost” with a Facebook ad campaign. ? You can view our post here: Honouring Karen on Facebook.
The best part of all this activity were the amazing words shared by friends and family of Karen, and Hands Across the Sea. I have shared some of the feedback from the Facebook post below.
“My friend you are beautiful inside & out, thanks so much for all you do for our children, you have blessed them in a life they would never have know. Love you.” ~Louise Bain
“To one of the most amazing leaders and God loving women I’ve ever met! You’ve had a profound impact on my life!” ~Rich Huisman
“Karen you amaze me still. Your determination for what is right and moral is what with the help of God has allowed you to accomplish so much for others in a beautiful but difficult place. May God continue to bless you. Love ❤️ you my friend.” ~Bev/Nana Smith
“I met Karen (and her AWESOME kids) recently while on a mission trip to Haiti, definately one of the most amazing woman I have ever been blessed to meet!!” ~Tana Byler
“Karen, you’re an amazing woman….your Dad would be so proud of you!!” ~Verna Mercer Young
“Karen, So proud to call you my friend.” ~Pat Decker
“You amaze me, Karen Huxter!!!” ~Bim Arthun
“What a wonderful lady” ~Ruth Kephart
“She is an amazing woman!” ~Virginia Aughinbaugh
“Thank you for all you do for the beautiful people of Haiti! ??” ~Anita Mestidor
“One of my best friends when I lived in Tilt Cove.” ~Christine Brown Burton
Thank you all!
“It’s All About the Children! ~Karen Huxter
~Lynn
