Margaret Trost's signature saying is "piti piti na rive," Creole for "little by little we arrive."

It is a belief that she has learned in a difficult way.

At age 34, Trost's husband died suddenly of an asthma attack, leaving her a widow with a five-year-old son.

Overcome by grief, she sought solace in good works -- journeying to Haiti to provide food and education to impoverished children in Port-au-Prince, the country's capitol.

"I received an out of the blue invitation to Haiti," says Trost who grew up in Chicago where she worked at WTTW. "I didn't know much about the country but I thought it would help me in my healing."

And though it did help Trost in her grieving process, the trip provided her with so much more n- a life mission.

"There's poverty everywhere, even here," says Trost who is remarried and lives in California. "But the scope of poverty in Haiti is overwhelming. "90 percent of Haiti lives on less than $2 a day."

Trost recounts the two journeys she embarked on -n an inner journey to heal and an outer journey of helping alleviate hunger in Haiti by starting the What If? Foundation -n in her first book, "On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman's Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti" (Koa Books, Sept. 2008 $15).

At times the grinding poverty was almost unbearable, testing Trost's resolve.

"We started with one meal a week for 500 children," says Trost who lived in Haiti with her son for a summer. "At times I thought what is one meal, but now we're serving meals five days a week for 1,500 kids. The problems of Haiti are so overwhelming, but if you do it one step at a time you can make a difference."

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Margaret Trost reading, Q&A, and signing

When: St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Chicago,12:30 p.m.; Barbara's Bookstore, 7 p.m.

Where: St. Paul's, 2335 N. Orchard, Chicago and Barbara's Bookstore, 1100 Lake St., Oak Park

FYI: St. Paul's (773) 348-3829 and Barbara's Bookstore (708) 848-9140