COSY JOSEPH

Gaskov Clergé's death on March 7, 1999 was a shock that left no room for gradual grief. He was the life of the party on Friday, hospitalized on Saturday, and gone on Sunday, taken by liver cancer at just 38 years old, at the dawn of a life that had already accomplished so much and promised so much more. Born in Les Cayes, trained at Howard University, and a Ph.D. candidate conducting research for the FDA, Gaskov was a scientist, a champion soccer player, and a man who loved people across every culture, class, and background.

In the days following his passing, his family and friends made a quiet but defining decision: they would grieve by giving. They would turn the weight of his loss into something that carried his name forward. That pledge became the Gaskov Clergé Foundation.

With modest contributions and a clear sense of purpose, GCF completed its tax-exempt recognition and set its first mission: a medical clinic in Haiti and scholarships for Haitian children. In August 2000, a team of roughly 30 doctors, nurses, and support staff traveled to Les Cayes on a shoestring budget with a goal of seeing 500 patients in 5 days. They exceeded that number by the second day. By day five, 1,500 patients had been seen, with hundreds more turned away. The scholarships that year went to 10 children. Hundreds more could not be helped. The need was humbling, and it sharpened GCF's resolve.

For the next 15 years, GCF's annual medical missions became a primary source of care for communities with no other options, reaching an average of 2,000 underserved patients per mission, many traveling hours from the most remote areas. GCF also funded life-saving surgeries and steadily grew its scholarship program year after year.

In 2015, GCF made its most consequential commitment yet: the opening of Klinik Fonfrèd, a permanent, fully equipped medical clinic in a rural community near Les Cayes. The clinic features four exam rooms, a triage area, a dental clinic, a laboratory, a pharmacy, and a radiology room. What had begun as an annual mission had grown into an institution. Since opening, Klinik Fonfrèd has delivered over 120,000 medical consultations, with women representing 67% of patients and children making up nearly one third, reflecting the clinic's role as a cornerstone of family health throughout the Grand Sud.

On the education side, GCF has now provided nearly 3,000 scholarships to students across Haiti and the United States. Many of those early recipients have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, nurses, and community leaders, returning to the places they came from as living proof that sustained investment in people changes the arc of entire families.

Since 1999, GCF has stood as a diaspora-led organization with a permanent clinic, a growing scholarship program, a committed board, and a community of donors and partners who believe deeply in Haiti's future. We are not finished. We are just getting started.