The Hitel Family: No Strings Attached

Each day, Jamie and Sarah Hitel are surrounded by children: three of their own and dozens of others. She’s a teacher and he’s the music director at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT.

Maybe it’s all those youngsters that make Jamie and Sarah so approachable, unflappable and comfortable in their skin. They both have audiences that are counting on them every day.

We at Episcopal Relief & Development count on them, too. The Hitels are monthly donors and they have been for several years. Jamie has a real sense, through his own job, how important regular donations are since churches count on annual pledges and regular offerings to sustain the work they do for local communities.

“Working in a church, you kind of understand the deal,” he said.

Sarah also understands the importance of regular donations since she grew up as a vicar’s daughter from the English Midlands. She and Jamie met at Cambridge University and they lived and worked in England and Norway before moving to the U.S. in 2000.

They left England for Akron, Ohio 15 years ago when Jamie became the music director at St. Paul’s Church. Sarah has taught French and German, and she has taught at all grade levels. But her current charges, kindergarteners, are her favorites.

Despite their busy schedules, they both love their work and feel that their lives are blessed. They express this gratitude by sharing their abundance with our programs all around the world.

As monthly donors, Jamie and Sarah are very familiar with the general work of Episcopal Relief & Development. However, instead of designating their donations to something specific, they’ve come to trust the organization to put the money where it’s most needed.

Jamie explained, “I think it’s important to give without strings attached.”

Perhaps this sense of generosity comes from a near-death experience their whole family encountered a few years ago. Sarah explained how they were driving through a winter storm along Interstate 80 on Thanksgiving. The car hit a patch of ice and went into a spin, skidding off the road, totaling the vehicle, and frightening everyone inside. But they all emerged unscathed.

William, who was only 10 at the time, kept saying, “Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. We’re all alive.”

The family spent the night in a hotel that evening, with hot dogs replacing a traditional Thanksgiving feast, but William said, “This is the best Thanksgiving ever.”

Rather than thinking about what they didn’t have, everyone was grateful to be alive and to have each other, and they realized not much else mattered.

Sarah said, “We have everything we need.”

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Mike Smith is Major Gifts Officer for Episcopal Relief & Development.

Images: Top, Middle 1 and Middle 2, Jamie as the Music Director at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT. Last, Jamie and Sarah Hitel.

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