Be Like Brit

Published in baystateparent magazine

Britney Gengel "I want to build an orphanage"

In December 2009, Britney Gengel, 19, of Rutland MA, was home on winter break

from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Brit was excited about her upcoming school mission trip, “Journey of Hope to Haiti” with international relief organization Food for the Poor. Britney told her parents that she was thinking about changing her major from Communications to Human Services.

“The three of us talked, heart-to-heart,” Britney’s mom Cherylann recalls. “We said, ‘Brit, you’ll know, when you come back from Haiti. It will change your life.’”

“I want to move here and start an orphanage”

Just hours after arriving in Port-au-Prince Britney excitedly phoned and texted her parents. The group of eleven students and two faculty members had visited an orphanage. Brit fell in love with the Haitian children.

“She wasn’t even there for an hour, when she texted me and said ‘Mom, I know what I want to do with the rest of my life.’” says Cherylann. “That’s what a profound effect it had on her.”

Britney told her parents that after she graduated, she wanted to move to Haiti and build an orphanage.

She also spoke by phone with her mom. Cheryann recalls the peace she heard in her daughter’s voice.

“She was content,” she says. “She was where she was supposed to be. I wish that all of us had that peace that she had in her voice. It’s what we all strive for in our lives.”

On Tuesday, January 12th, a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Port-au- Prince. The earthquake claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Brittany, fellow Lynn University students, Stephanie Crispinelli, Christine Gianacaci and Courtney Hayes, and faculty members Patrick Hartwick and Richard Bruno did not survive the quake.

“Our hearts are broken,” says Brit’s dad Len Gengel. “But our daughter died doing what she wanted to do. She was feeding the poorest of the poor.” Brit’s phone calls and texts to her parents— communicating her newfound calling to help the Haitians—became a way for the family to “triumph over this tragedy,” Len says. “She gave us our purpose, to honor her. And that is a blessing.”

Cherylann agrees. “We knew how Brit felt, and we have a direction. We have something to hold onto to keep her memory alive. ”

The Gengels started the foundation, Be Like Brit (belikebrit.org) to honor their daughter’s wish to help the children of Haiti. The foundation’s Mission Statement is “to serve the children of Haiti by establishing a safe, nurturing and sustainable orphanage in an environment where they can grow, learn and thrive.”

It is a statement of hope for Haitian children, born out of the heartbreaking loss of a child.

A Shining Star

“Brit was fabulous. She was our shining star.” says Len. “She was a beautiful girl inside and out. She made kids feel special. Brit was always for the underdog. That’s just who she was. That’s why she went to Haiti.” Her mom adds that, “Brit was not a saint. She wasn’t a missionary. She was just a regular teenage kid. She got in trouble, she made mistakes, but she was terrific. She was my baby and I loved her, but she was just a normal kid. She was one kid doing one kind thing.”

Britney, who would have turned 20 on January 21st, was the oldest of three Gengel children. Bernie (18) recently graduated from Eagle  in Hardwick and will be attending Suffolk University in the Fall. Richie (14) will be a sophomore. Bernie is serving alongside his parents on the board of the Be Like Brit foundation.

Continuing the Compassion

While the Gengels raise funds to build an orphanage in Brit’s honor, their broader desire is that Be Like Brit will inspire many acts of individual compassion.

“A lot of kindness is coming out of this horrific tragedy,” says Cherylann. “People are doing things that maybe they wouldn’t have done before. They don’t necessarily have to go to Haiti and build an orphanage, they can do something right here. They can go to their local food pantry. They can help their next-door neighbor. They can say something kind to someone else.”

Len agrees. “Be Like Brit is about continuing the compassion. Brit was all about compassion. As human beings, that’s one of the greatest gifts we can give another,” he says.

The Gengels and a small group of family members traveled to Haiti in June to explore potential partnerships with organizations for building and running the orphanage. The trip was also a time for the family to pay pilgrimage to the Hotel Montana, where Britney spent her last moments. She was recovered from the ruins of the hotel after the earthquake and is laid to rest in Worcester. In a country where Britney marveled to her parents that a new toothbrush for a child was “like Christmas,” the Gengels want to continue helping the “poorest of the poor” in Brit’s honor.

“Britney was given a lot of things in life, and she appreciated everything she had, but she wanted to give back of herself, which I’m very proud of,” says Cherylann.

“People aren’t talking about the things she had, they’re talking about what she did with her life. That’s the moral of the story. That’s the question: What are we going to do with our lives? What kind of impact are we going to have?”

In short, how will each of us Be Like Brit?

For more information on Britney Gengel’s Poorest of the Poor Fund, visit: belikebrit.org, and on Facebook at facebook.com/belikebrit