Radio personalities travel to Haiti with Food For The Poor

On-air personalities from across the country traveled to Haiti this fall with the Christian relief and development organization, Food For The Poor. For many of the travelers, this was their first experience witnessing this level of extreme destitution.

“The bottom line is people, humankind, should not be living in this kind of squalor,” said Big Wave Dave, afternoon host of The Fish 95.9 FM in Los Angeles, while walking through Shada, Haiti. “This is something that we as Americans cannot fathom – the worst parts of the Bronx, the worst part of Southern California and L.A. – pales in comparison.”

In this video, standing along the seawall, Big Wave Dave describes the putrid smell of the rotting garbage in the canal and how the children surrounding him drink, fish, and wash in this water source. In the distance, the dilapidated structures that the children call home are visible.

“Now just imagine what that is doing to their bodies on top of their living conditions,” said Big Wave Dave. “The $12 a month will not only feed a family of four for a month, or $144 for a year, but, get this, Food For The Poor is building new homes to get families out of this mess and into a new environment. If you want to talk about boots on the ground, that is the core.”

With more than 600,000 Haitians still living in tent cities, one of Food For The Poor’s biggest priorities in the country is building homes. Almost 17,000 homes have been constructed by the charity in Haiti – 2,600 of those since the Jan. 12 earthquake. The charity has the capacity to build 350 two-room homes a month, and is limited only by funding.

“With your help we have made a difference here without my feet being on the ground,” said Tim Hartlage, General Manager of 94.7 FM WFIA in Louisville, Ky. in this video shot in Derac, Haiti. “These kids used to live in a house much worse than the house behind me. Across the street here this is what we are doing, this is the hope you are giving these families here, we are helping them.”

Since returning to the air in Louisville, his passionate pleas have stirred listeners to help those starving in Haiti. “Right now our mission is to help feed them,” said Hartlage.

In 2009, when Hartlage traveled to Haiti with Food For The Poor, he said he was overwhelmed to learn Haiti’s destitute children eat “mud cookies” to help quell their hunger pains.

While in Haiti, the group witnessed firsthand the work of Food For The Poor, and met the families featured in the radio campaigns, as well as those who wished to thank radio listeners for their compassion. They distributed food at a Food For The Poor feeding center which provides 15,000 hot meals six days a week. The travelers also visited a Food For The Poor school in Cité Soleíl, where the students receive what might well be their only meal for the day.

“It is unbelievable, it just brings you to tears,” said Melanie Lynn, morning on-air host for PULSE 96.9/92.1 FM from South Bend, Ind., during her first visit to Haiti.

With children seated in her lap and clinging to her in this video, Lynn encourages listeners to partner with Food For The Poor so children might have renewed hope and access to food and safe drinking water.

On-air appeals raise money to house and feed starving families in Haiti.

Additional radio personalities on the trip included Rob Davis, Salem Radio; George Flores, WAWZ (N.Y.); Heather Lloyd, KPRZ (San Diego, Calif.); and Katherine Worthington, KKLA (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry 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