Friday, August 19, 2011

Out of debris and despair, progress in Port-au-Prince

Rubble that has lined vacant sections of Port-au-Prince since the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake is finally being cleared to make way for much needed housing in the Caribbean nation's capital and most populous city. Food For The Poor is about to start a major housing development project on the outskirts of the city with the Inter-American Development Bank.

"I am thrilled because the construction projects we've been able to accomplish in other parts of Haiti can now begin closer to Port-au-Prince," said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. "Thanks to our donors, we have built more than 2,200 homes in Haiti since the earthquake. People desperate for shelter will now have a chance to move from the tents into sound houses."

Late last week, Food For The Poor, the Inter-American Development Bank, and Fonds d' Assistance Économique et Social made the commitment to construct the first phase of 100 houses. The homes will be built on land donated by the Haitian government in Orangers, which is located just north of Port-au-Prince. The Inter-American Development Bank will fund the site development and half of the cost of every home, while the other half will be matched by Food For The Poor's donors.

“The organization has received the allocated funds toward this housing project, which also will create much needed jobs in the region,” said Alvaro Pereira, Executive Vice President of Food For The Poor. “Construction should start next week.”

While 1.3 million people were initially left homeless by the earthquake, about 600,000 are still without shelter, according to the United Nations’ shelter committee. Getting the people out of the makeshift tents pitched in the city’s parks, plazas and public places is a real challenge because most have no place to go.

Leaders have said the way for meaningful change in Haiti is to help implement self-sustaining programs, which will eventually allow Haitians to take the reins of their own reconstruction and future by providing jobs that will help support its people and its local economy. The home building project helps meet those goals.

There are other signs of progress in Port-au-Prince, Food For The Poor is close to completing the Jean-Marie Gilloux School, which should be ready to welcome students on the first day of school. The two-level building is near the ruins of the famed Notre Dame d’Haiti Cathedral. Three more schools are also being constructed, and each school is being built with earthquake resistant materials. More than 3,400 students will benefit from the construction of the four new schools.

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.

Contact:
Wanda Wright
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Determined to build a school, 11-year-old needs your help

In May, 11-year-old Rachel Wheeler traveled to Haiti to dedicate the village for which she fundraised for two years. It was built with the nonprofit Food For The Poor. The residents in “Rachel’s Village” greeted her with a hero’s welcome, clapping and singing songs of praise and thanks. It was here, in the coastal village of Kay Piti, in Leogane, among the new vibrantly painted homes, that Rachel realized that not all children are able to attend school. Determined to make a difference, Rachel’s new goal is to build a school.

“I want to build a school because they need education to make their lives better so they can learn and teach their own children how to have a better life,” said Rachel Wheeler, who was named one of America’s 2011 top 10 youth volunteers out of approximately 29,000 applicants.

Rachel’s school will be constructed in Reap de Morel, Leogane, near the epicenter of the January 2010 earthquake. Prior to the earthquake, 250 students from kindergarten to the sixth grade were registered and attended the school. Classes are currently held in a one-room, makeshift structure that floods when it rains. Rusted sheet-metal, pieces of wood and blue tarps offer students little protection from the weather.

“Without education, Haiti will never be able to improve the lives of its people,” said Rachel, who is preparing to enter the sixth grade at Zion Lutheran School in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

While in Haiti, Rachel and her family visited the Food For The Poor-sponsored school Ti Aiyti in Cité Soleil. The students, dressed in blue and white uniforms, greeted guests with laughter, smiles, handmade cards, and performances.

“I believe that knowledge is power,” said Julie Wheeler, Rachel’s mother. “Education is the solution to poverty. Seeing the school in Cité Soleil gave me hope, those children are the future leaders of their country.”

In addition to providing supplies, Food For The Poor also supports school feeding programs. For many poor children, the nutritious meal they receive at school may be their only meal of the day. The meals not only help a child concentrate, learn and develop, but they also serve as a powerful incentive for parents to send their children to school.

“Rachel is an incredible young lady who has dreams of a better life for poor children,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director. “With the construction of this school, children from Rachel’s Village and the surrounding area will be able to wear uniforms, walk proudly to school and learn how to read and write.”

Food For The Poor’s August 2011 newsletter features a young girl who said that if God could answer any of her prayers, she would ask Him to answer two. “I’d ask God to help my family, because the living conditions here are very bad. And I’d ask God to send me to school,” said Filona Bernard, 13, who is unable to attend school because there is not enough money for a school uniform, books, and other essentials.

“I like school because I think that without school, you can’t succeed in life. You can’t be anything,” said Filona, who watches her six younger siblings while her mother is at the local market, selling mangoes for five cents apiece.

To support Rachel’s building initiative, tax-deductible donations can be made through the charity’s secure website at www.FoodForThePoor.org/Rachel. Donations can also be mailed to Food For The Poor, 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073. Please make checks payable to Food For The Poor and include the special source code “SC# 80982” to accurately route your donation to the school-building effort.

Months ago, as Rachel boarded a Food For The Poor fishing boat to leave Rachel’s Village, the residents called out and waved to her from the beach, saying, “You are always welcome here. Please come back.” It is as if they knew Rachel’s determination would someday bring her back to Haiti.

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Contact
:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com

Monday, August 8, 2011

Food For The Poor wins Telly award

Food For The Poor’s ‘The Least Of These’ was named winner of a second place Bronze Telly Award for bringing awareness to the desperate plight of children who suffer horrific living conditions in developing countries. The moving production highlighting personal stories of children in Haiti and Guatemala was selected out of approximately 11,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries for portraying the harsh realities of extreme destitution in a compelling way.

“Food For The Poor donors have been saving lives for 29 years in the Caribbean and Latin America,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s President/CEO. “Our donors have empowered us to be the premier providers of aid in Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana and almost all countries of Central America. “This aid takes the form of life-saving food, water, permanent housing, education, medicine, micro-enterprise and self-sustaining projects – all this while maintaining an administrative cost ratio of less than 4 percent.”

The program includes donor testimonials to inspire and remind viewers that every gift, regardless of size and value, will help Food For The Poor provide food, medicine, shelter and access to safe drinking water to the poorest of the poor. During the program, spokesperson Cheryl Ladd, who starred in “Charlie’s Angels,” asks viewers to consider giving monthly to the nonprofit Food For The Poor by becoming an Angel Of The Poor.

The Telly Awards honors the best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web. For its 32nd season, the Telly Awards once again joined forces with YouTube to give the public the power to view and rate videos submitted as part of this year’s People's Telly Awards. Today, the Telly is one of the most sought-after awards by industry leaders, from large international firms to local production companies and ad agencies.

“Congratulations to all who took part in this monumental effort,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director. “We have a great mission and it was captured beautifully by Russ Reid in this 58-minute program. Despite our efficient, effective and impactful work funded by a solid number of generous and loyal donors, we still remain strangers to a large part of this country’s population. I am confident that this exciting initiative will introduce our work to a larger audience with a heart for serving those who live in extreme poverty.”

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Contact:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Second school sustains Stephanie Crispinelli’s legacy

Wearing blue shirts that read “Failure is not an option,” Lenny and Lin Crispinelli have continued to build their daughter’s legacy, erecting a second school in Jamaica with the nonprofit Food For The Poor. Energized by the fast-paced construction, a group of 33 friends and family members discussed plans for a third school before ‘Steph’s Place II’ in Clarendon, Jamaica, was even finished.

“We’ve got to keep this going,” said Lin, at the work site of Steph’s Place II. “Everybody is so excited – it has been a wonderful experience. It has helped us so much in our healing.”

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Jenna Constantino read the poem she wrote for Stephanie’s memorial service in 2010.



The poem read, in part:

“We celebrated her life in the beginning,
We are celebrating her life now,
But Stephanie celebrated life in the middle,
And here’s a glimpse into how…..
She loved her family deeply,
She didn’t take life too seriously,
She wasn’t afraid to be different,
She broadened her horizons, and
She cared for those in need.”


With the school completed in just two days, the group had plenty of time to follow in Stephanie’s footsteps. Group members fed lunch to handicapped children, created arts and crafts with AIDS-affected children, shot soccer goals with orphaned boys, and cared for at-risk girls.

“The experience we had in Jamaica will stay in our hearts forever,” emailed Teri Palotta, to the group. “We didn't know Stephanie, but after this trip we can see and feel what a wonderful and special young woman she was. It was a true pleasure to meet, work, and spend time with each of you.”

Stephanie’s family and friends also had the opportunity to visit ‘Steph’s Place,’ the school they built last year in Race Course, Clarendon, on the school’s Career Day. Students dressed as nurses, teachers, businessmen and military officers to welcome the visitors.

“You could feel the pride and joy the community had, and that is what allowed us to see the difference the school would make in their lives,” said Nikki Fantauzzi, who had been with Stephanie in Haiti on a Food For The Poor mission trip when the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck in January 2010.

“We are trying to give children in this area an opportunity for a safe learning environment, so they have the opportunity to have a fulfilling education,” Lin said.

To help continue Stephanie’s mission, please make checks payable to Food For The Poor and include the special source code “SC# 80749” to accurately route your donation to the school-building effort. Donations can be mailed to Food For The Poor, 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073. All gifts are tax-deductible.

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Contact:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com

All-Nighter to empower students, unite campuses, fight hunger

Students nationwide are encouraged to host an event on their campus to commemorate World Food Day in partnership with the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor. Last year, colleges and universities throughout the United States made a commitment to make a positive, tangible difference in our world. In one night, for the second consecutive year, students raised money to build self-sustaining tilapia ponds in Haiti.

“The tilapia-farming project is not meant to alleviate poverty in the short-term, but rather to help this community rebuild in the long run by ceasing hunger and creating jobs for community residents,” said Isabelle Martinez, who graduated from The Honors College at Miami Dade College in April 2011.

Miami Dade College (MDC) was last year’s top fundraising team. The initiative to fight hunger and poverty spurred more than 600 MDC students to create an All-Nighter For The Poor outdoor party that included various types of dance, food from around the world, music, games, performances, art, poetry and more. MDC students and administrators are currently scheduling and planning another event for later this year.

“Our approach this year is to make giving back to the global community fun and exciting,” said Catherine Vega, a senior international relations major at Florida International University (FIU). “We hope to see more students than ever support this amazing cause. With the support of other student-leaders at FIU, we hope to raise awareness about the issues we are facing within our global community.”

The goal of the All-Nighter For The Poor program is to increase awareness about malnutrition and to fund self-sustaining solutions to poverty – such as tilapia ponds and animal husbandry projects – to alleviate hunger in developing countries. FIU’s third annual event is scheduled for Friday, November 18.

“It is with great honor that we take on this big responsibility,” said Zahra Arbabi Aski, a senior psychology major at FIU. “I am pleased to see that our Golden Panthers are standing together to support such an incredible cause and help build a brighter future for those in need. All-Nighter For The Poor has been a successful event at FIU for the past three years; however, we are hoping to take it to a higher level this year and leave a legacy for future FIU students to follow.”

Students at the University of Florida (UF) are also gearing up to participate in an All-Nighter For The Poor. Organizers for “Gators For The Poor” have created a Facebook page to help coordinate students and faculty.

“I’m so excited to make other UF students aware of Food For The Poor, an organization of which I just had the privilege of getting involved,” said Kayla Cochran, an English major from Deerfield Beach, Fla. “I pray this event strengthens unity within the campus and extends compassion to those outside.”

Are you ready to change the world? To register your school or join your school’s All-Nighter For The Poor team visit www.AllNighterForThePoor.org. This site also offers a downloadable “How To” guide, publicity materials, and ideas to help you create personalized donation pages and more. For more information, please call 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6988 or email info@allnighterforthepoor.org.

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Contact:
Jennifer Leigh Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com