MOSES LAKE — A fundraising banquet with the proceeds going to a mission facility in Haiti heavily damaged by Hurricane Matthew is scheduled for 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church, 724 West Fourth Ave., Moses Lake.

“Hope for Haiti” is a fundraiser for people in need – and it’s the culmination of a project eight teenagers decided to do to challenge themselves. Well, that’s not quite right. “One (participant) isn’t even a teenager yet.” said Mikayla Cooper, 15, who’s among the eight planners. ”Our chair is 12 (years of age).”

The project grew out of a book they read in their homeschooling cooperative. The book, “Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations,” challenged its readers to do something difficult. So the eight took up the challenge.

“We didn’t even know we were going to do something like this until the end of the book,” Mikayla said. They kicked around ideas for the challenging project, and decided on a fundraiser for Haiti. “We had a few ideas and we decided this one was the best idea. They (the mission) needed the most help.”

The mission is located in Jeremie, a town about 120 miles west of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. Church groups and individuals from Moses Lake, Coulee City and the Columbia Basin have been volunteering at the mission and its school for many years.

Hurricane Matthew hit the island Oct. 6 and destroyed almost everything in its path. The mission was “basically flattened. There was one wall left standing at the mission and the school,” said Mikayla’s father Casey Cooper.

“And it was really pretty before,” Mikayla said.

Under those circumstances the group wanted to raise money somehow for the mission. “I think food was on our minds,” Mikayla said, and they came up with the idea of a banquet.

The eight teens have done all the planning, except where adult help was required, Casey Cooper said. They’ve been working on it since late October, Mikayla said.

They’ve learned a few things from the effort, she said. ‘It’s not easy to put on an event like this.”

“But,“ Casey said.

“But we’re going to do it,” Mikayla said.

The evening will include dinner, featuring a "Creole" menu, Mikayla said – chicken gumbo, beans and rice, and carrot salad. A dessert auction is scheduled, with desserts donated by local businesses and made by the participants. Mikayla said she’s baking pies. A silent auction is scheduled as well, along with a slide presentation on the mission and the effects of the hurricane.

Tickets are $25 per person; the church has room for 105 people, Casey Cooper said. Tickets are available at AG World, or by calling 509-770-1044.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].