POULSBO — The pile is quite large, and it isn’t known how many Valentines are in it. But one thing is for certain, there’s at least 88.

That’s the number, at least, of children that Dr. Lyle Beck will be serving in Haiti when he travels there on Feb. 6. He will spend a week in the island country before returning on Feb. 14.

Beck will take with him the pile of Valentines crafted by students in Lola Haveman’s French classes at North Kitsap High School.

“They called me and said they are going on a trip to Haiti and they thought it would be nice to do Valentine cards,” Haveman said. “We spent a part of the lesson putting together the cards. They are all in French. Students were saying things like ‘Hang in there,’ ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ ‘I’m sorry about the trouble you’ve experienced since the earthquake.’ Things of encouragement.”

The French students have already been corresponding with other students from Lycee Aristide Briand, a high school in Saint-Nazaire, France.

“Normally, our pen pal letters are longer, but [these are] short, little quick notes. And they were happy to do it,” Haveman said. “They were taking time to decorate them and taking time to choose thoughtful things to say.”

Dr. Beck will take the Valentines, and other gifts such as hand-made bracelets, with him and a team from Clear Creek Dentistry of Silverdale.

“About half of our dental team is going down to Haiti with Children of the Nations which has adopted a village in Haiti to help provide basic necessities,” Beck said. “We will provide dental care for that village.”

Children of the Nations, a non-profit based in Silverdale, provides services to children in poor or devastated communities. In this case, the team of dentists is heading to Gressier, Haiti, where they will tend to 88 children who are being sponsored through the non-profit.

“We will primarily work with those children and anyone else in the community,” Beck said. “It is my understanding that they haven’t had a dentist as part of their program in the past, so we will go down and see what their needs are, and possibly plan some future visits.”

The town was hit hard by the 2010 earthquake that ravaged much of the country.

The Haiti trip is the latest in a tradition for the dentist office.

“As an office, we’ve committed to, about every two years, doing some sort of international mission trip,” Beck said. “This is the third time. The first time we went to Senegal in Africa, then the Dominican Republic, and now Haiti.”

Beck trades trips with the other dentist at Clear Creek, Dr. Steve Haws. The Haiti trip is Dr. Beck’s turn.

“Some of the children we are working with are children that were injured in the earthquake a few years ago,” Beck said. “It’s something we’ve enjoyed doing, and we also try to mix up doing some local things here in the community, like Day of Hope which Gateway Church sponsors, and we do several programs for veterans.”

Above, a message of encouragement for a child in Haiti. Below, North Kitsap High School student Justin Sutton works on a Valentine for a child in Haiti. Richard D. Oxley / Herald