Skip Bennett knows what it is to have nothing, to suffer catastrophic loss and soldier on. Yet when a parasite wiped out his Duxbury Bay clam farm in 1995, Bennett, the founder of Island Creek Oysters, never considered giving up.

Bennett switched his aquaculture crop from clams to oysters and business took off. Now he and the Island Creek team have managed to grow a wide-ranging business that includes the oyster farm, a Boston restaurant, as well as catering and wholesale divisions.

“As hard as I’ve worked,” said Bennett, “I really started with nothing. I started with sweat equity bent over the mud. That said, I was privileged to have started here.”Knowing that struggle, knowing what it is to want to work hard and thrive, and the awareness that as low as his low point was, it didn’t quite compare to the hardships others around the world face, Bennett and the people he works with made it their mission to give back.

For the second year in a row, the charitable arm of his business, the Island Creek Oysters Foundation (ICOF) will host its Friends for Haiti fundraiser to benefit Caribbean Harvest. Supported by former President William Clinton’s foundation, Caribbean Harvest seeks to nourish and employ the people of Haiti through sustainable aquaculture.

The fundraiser, or as Bennett calls it, party, will take place on Saturday, Sept. 8 at Duxbury Beach and will feature foods from celebrity restaurants such as Rialto and Gramercy Kitchen. Also on hand will be signature cocktails, a cigar bar and music under the stars, with a live performance by the New Orleans-based Samirah Evans and Her Handsome Devils.

“Socially, it’s the right thing to do,” said Bennett whose ICOF continues to

support sustainable aquaculture in Zanzibar as well. “We have the possibility to use our resources – our oysters – to do some good. It would be a

shame not to capitalize on that. There’s a larger responsibility to do good.”

Last year, the ICOF raised $100,000 for the charity founded by Fulbright scholar and Auburn alum Dr. Valentin Abe. A native of the Ivory Coast, in 1997 Abe went to Haiti to stay only a few months to teach the people about aquaculture, but never left. Named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010 by Pres. Clinton, Abe founded Caribbean Harvest in 2005 to raise funds for and awareness of the need for sustainable aquaculture in Haiti.

Abe, who will be in Duxbury for the Sept. 8 event, said the support his charity receives from ICOF is integral to the lives of people in need.

“We are working in extremely poor areas of Haiti teaching them how to raise fish and benefit them first on a nutritional level… and we’ve raised incomes through our program,” said Abe from his home on the island. “We’ve increased revenues to $2,000 a year. In Haiti, that’s a lot of money.” Abe said Caribbean Harvest is now working with 154 families in three separate areas of the island nation. Yet with the continued assistance of the Island Creek Oysters Foundation, Abe said he

hopes to expand the program of teaching families how to raise their own fish farms and giving them the necessary tools to implement their own aquaculture by 120 -220 families. A complete kit for one family costs about $2,400.

“The message I can send to the people of Duxbury,” said Abe, “is that one person can make a difference in the lives of many as long as you do it from the bottom of your heart.”

It’s a message Bennett echoed.

“It’s a great opportunity for the people o Duxbury to come out and support this program in Haiti through the ICOF and to have an impact on people where there’s so much need,” said Bennett, staring out at Duxbury Bay before turning to smile. “And we also have great parties.”

For more information on the “Friends for Haiti” benefit, visit the Island Creek Oysters Foundation Web site at http://www.islandcreekfoundation.org/?page_id=208 or call 781-934-2028.