Friday, April 27, 2012

Ruby Tuesday partners with Food For The Poor: GiveBack Program on May 15 will help feed children

Enjoy a meal at Ruby Tuesday on May 15, and the restaurant will give back 20 percent of the purchase to the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor. Twenty-two locations across the state of Florida are participating in the program that will help feed hungry children in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The program works very simply. Restaurant patrons take this flyer to participating restaurants, and the restaurant will give back 20 percent of the purchase. The Food For The Poor GiveBack day is May 15, the International Day of Families. Ruby Tuesday customers also can visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/rubytuesday and help make a difference in the lives of the poor. Since August 2011, Ruby Tuesday has given back more than $267,000 to various charities.

Ruby Tuesday’s Community GiveBack Program with Food For The Poor comes at a time when global food prices are rising. The United Nations food agency reported in the first week of April that food prices have risen for the third straight month, adding to fears of hunger in developing countries. For $14.60, Food For The Poor can feed four children for one month. As an example of the power of the GiveBack program, a family that spends $40 on dinner could feed two children for a month.

“Generous partners such as Ruby Tuesday make our work possible. We encourage families to enjoy a meal together at one of their restaurants on May 15 and make a huge difference,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “We are grateful for such a caring company, because through their donation, lives literally will be saved.” Ruby Tuesday was founded in 1972, and is a publicly owned company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (RT). The company has nearly 900 company-owned and franchised restaurants throughout the United States and all over the world. More than 40,000 corporate and franchise team members are employed by Ruby Tuesday. For more information, please visit www.rubytuesday.com.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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:
Kathy Skipper
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6614
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II on track to fundraising goal

Thanks to Boca Grande’s Hope for Haitians Committee, dozens of Haitian families left homeless by the 2010 earthquake are one step closer to leaving the tent cities of Port-au-Prince and moving into their own sturdy homes.

“We cannot fathom what life is like for families living under such dire conditions, not for one year, but for nearly two and a half years,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Words cannot express the gratitude we have for the Boca Grande Committee and for their continued support. On behalf of the Haitian families who’ll soon be moving into the village – thank you.”

Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II, which is located in the small farming community of Michaud near Croix-des-Bouquets just northwest of Port-au-Prince, is more than 85 percent complete and some families have started to move in. The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee is still raising money for the project through Food For The Poor.

The new village will have:
•    40 earthquake resistant two-room homes with personal sanitation units and kitchenettes
•    Solar-powered lanterns for each family
•    Four solar-powered street lamps
•    A community center
•    80 goats
•    200 fruit-bearing trees
•    A water filtration unit

“The people of Boca Grande have been so very generous to our Haiti project, and we’re very thankful for their support,” said Ben Scott, chair of the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee. “However, we still have a little ways to go, but I am confident we will receive the necessary donations to complete this village.”

Food For The Poor’s goal is to build 12,000 homes in 2012 for the people in the countries it serves.  The organization has asked individuals and businesses to participate in a matching fund program to encourage donations towards that goal.  As a result of this program, funds have been allocated for the construction of 10 two-room homes for Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II in Michaud, Haiti.

The first Friendship Village built by the committee through Food For The Poor is located in the northwest part of the country in Pierre Payen.  Scott and his wife Louise traveled to Haiti for the dedication of a school and the second phase of that village last November. While in Haiti, they took a tour of one of the makeshift tent cities and met some of the future recipients of the homes in Michaud.  See what Scott saw while touring the tent cities.

Committee members include: Ben and Louise Scott, the Rev. Gary Beatty, the Rev. Brian Brightly, the Rev. Jerome Carosella, the Rev. Read Heydt, George and Lois Castrucci, Patricia Chapman, Ray and Iliene Corcoran, Charlie and Florita Field, Evelyn Finnegan, Lou and Corie Fusz, Stephen and Susan Jansen, Tom and Nancy Lorden, Colvin and Madelaine McCrady, John and Pauline Mendez and Peter and Elsa Soderberg
Make a secure online donation towards the completion of Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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. To learn more, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.

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

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Alabama home builder is building hope in Haiti

Poverty and despair took up residence in Lahatte, Haiti, long before the 2010 earthquake. Lahatte is like no other place on the island nation. It’s dry and dusty – huts made out of clay, leaves, and wooden sticks with scrap metal roofs dot most of the terrain. Because of the arid soil it’s very difficult to grow fruits and vegetables.

“Lahatte looks like a desert, there’s nothing tropical about it, even though it’s geographically situated in the Caribbean,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Life in Haiti is hard, but in Lahatte, it can be extremely difficult. By the grace of God, the people who live there are so resilient they’ve learned to survive on very little in harsh conditions. We’re so thankful that their cries and prayers for help are now being answered.”

Rob Owens, President of VTS Homes, Inc. located in Huntsville, Ala., reached out to Food For The Poor after seeing a news story about the work the organization is doing in Haiti in the fall of 2010. Owens and VTS partners David and Todd Slyman, all made good on a promise, that for every home VTS sold, they would make a donation to build homes in Haiti.

“My work is a major portion of my life, so why not live out my faith in my work? VTS Homes believes in being our brother’s keeper whether it’s across the street or around the world. It’s exciting to be able to make a difference in the lives of these families,” said Owens, who first traveled to Haiti in 2002.

Located in L'Estère, a municipality in the Gonaives Arrondissement, tiny Lahatte sits just north of St. Marc. Thanks to VTS Homes, Inc. 15 families are moving into two-room concrete block homes with sanitation. Because of the efforts of dedicated donors, a water cistern has been installed for the rest of the community. The fundraising is far from over. Plans are in the works to build a community center, which will double as a school and a meeting place, plus a playground for the children.

Partners of VTS Homes are planning to travel with Food For The Poor for the naming and inauguration of the village later this summer. If you would like to make a secure online donation toward the completion of the village in Lahatte, visit www.foodforthepoor.org/lahatte. Those wishing to make a donation by check, please make it payable to Food For The Poor and mail to 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073. Please include reference number “SC# 67887” to ensure your donation is accurately routed. All gifts are tax-deductible.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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.

To learn more, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.

Teddy bears headed to Haiti, Jamaica, carry legacy of love

A South Florida man is carrying on his late wife’s legacy with his gift of 1,500 teddy bears to the international relief and development agency Food For The Poor. The charity will ship the bears to children living in extreme poverty in Haiti and Jamaica.

In February, when Jerry Gamble lost his wife, Jean, to heart failure, he was grief-stricken after 53 years of marriage. He knew that her bear collection was important to her, so he turned his grief to action to find good homes for the bears she sometimes called her children. He researched different groups and decided to give most of them to Food For The Poor to help brighten the lives of children living in destitute conditions.

As he sorted through the bears to bag and box them up for the children, he reminisced about the Saturday garage sale trips with his wife that ultimately resulted in thousands of bears.

“We always went together to the garage sales. She knew bears, I didn’t,” Gamble said. “It started when she saw two little bears lying in a driveway, waiting for the trash pick-up. I don’t know when her brain kicked in and she decided to collect them. It started to get a little crazy.”

Gamble built special wooden risers for his wife’s “bear room” and the collection continued to grow as her children made gifts of bears to her, and she continued to find and refurbish bears that had fallen onto hard times. The result of their 15 years of bear rescue will be a big load of love to children who have never had their own toy, or known the comfort of a plush bear in their arms as they fall asleep.

“Mr. Gamble has no idea what a blessing of love these teddy bears will be for these children who have so little, and who are so grateful to know that someone cares,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “He might never meet these children, yet they will feel the love he has for them.”

Food For The Poor supports more than 3,800 children in 95 orphanages through its Angels of Hope program. Many more children are helped through schools and feeding programs.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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:
Kathy Skipper
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6614
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com

Monday, April 16, 2012

Musician shares the power of Somebody’s Praying for Me

For many, Food For The Poor isn’t just their charity of choice, but also a personal prayer partner. Through Food For The Poor’s prayer ministry, the charity’s donors have the unique opportunity to pray for the needs of the poor as well as their own personal needs.

The Christian music artist Don Moen, in support of that ministry, has offered the song Somebody’s Praying for Me from his most recent album Uncharted Territory to be given as a gift to donors. When donations are made to one of Food For The Poor’s 40 radio station campaigns to help prevent the spread of chronic malnutrition in Guatemala from April 16-May 16, the song Somebody’s Praying for Me can be downloaded for free.

“To know somebody is praying for you and lifting your intentions up to the Lord is very powerful,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s President/CEO. “Through the prayers of Food For The Poor’s donors and recipients, we as a charity have grown and prospered during the past 30 years.”

Moen has collaborated with Food For The Poor since 2004. During Moen’s 2011 six-city Canadian concert tour, he shared stories from his 2010 mission trip with the charity to Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien and Shada, Haiti. Inspired to help Moen change lives, generous audiences responded with donations to build 13 new two-room homes in Haiti.

“I am more committed than ever to bring the message of hope to those who have lost hope and to help people sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land,” said Moen, a singer, songwriter and worship leader. “Remember God is always working in ways you cannot see.”

The song Somebody’s Praying for Me can also be downloaded for free by completing this form on Food For The Poor’s website.

Food For The Poor has a department that is dedicated to praying for and with donors who have mailed in prayer requests. Thousands of prayer requests are received each month.

Whether you are faced with a challenging day, a difficult decision or have a blessing to celebrate, Food For The Poor’s “Live Prayer” iPhone app will connect you to a prayer partner within minutes. A team of prayer associates are standing by to pray with you in a secure, private, one-on-one phone call. To make a prayer request simply enter your name and phone number and you will receive a return call within five minutes.

Food For The Poor’s free “Live Prayer” iPhone app is available for download by texting “Prayer” to 69866 and by visiting the Food For The Poor website. In addition to the “Live Prayer” functionality, users can also learn about Food For The Poor, make donations to the charity, and receive special news and event notifications. A weekly scripture and prayer is also accessible through the app. Live prayer is offered Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. EST, and on Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.

Moen is President of Don Moen and Friends, a 501(c)3 non-profit focused on bringing worship events, worship training, and worship in action to people worldwide. Through concerts, teaching, and partnerships with local and international relief organizations, Don Moen and Friends brings God's message of hope, comfort, and encouragement around the world.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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

Food For The Poor says “thank you” to its volunteers

In honor of National Volunteer Week, Food For The Poor is taking time to thank its devoted donors and countless volunteers for all that they do on behalf of the poor.

“Our volunteers cover all age brackets. They dedicate their time to filing papers, to building homes and schools, to formal affairs and various events,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “They play an instrumental part in our day-to-day function at our headquarters in Coconut Creek, Fla., but most importantly in the countries where we serve, to help many to have the basic necessities of life.”

National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, is about encouraging individuals to get involved and to create change. As Food For The Poor celebrates more than three decades of service this year, the organization appreciates its volunteers and needs their generous commitment now and in years to come.

Here are a few examples of how you can make a difference for families in the Caribbean and Latin America, in most instances, without even boarding a plane:

• Become volunteer ambassadors:
Present the Food For The Poor mission at events in your local community.
Training is provided.
• Help organize emergency food drives:
In times of natural disasters, Food For The Poor needs help collecting supplies to send to those suffering from the effects of storms and other catastrophic events.
• Volunteer at annual events:
Food For The Poor needs volunteers to help with 5K Walk/Run fundraisers.
• Become a student volunteer:
Students from elementary to college can find creative ways to raise funds through events on campus and within their communities.
• Become corporate volunteers:
Get involved in fundraising, and travel to the countries we serve to do hands-on projects.

If you have a heart for the poor, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org and click on the ‘How to Help’ tab for ideas on how you can make a difference as an individual, group or as a corporation.
Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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.

To learn more, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.

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

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Lynn University students rough it, paying tribute to friends’ legacies and the poor

For the fourth consecutive year, members of Lynn University’s student organization Students For The Poor will construct a tent city on campus to call attention to the desperate living conditions of those who remain homeless in Haiti, on Thursday, April 5, in Perper Plaza, near the center of campus.

Students will pitch tents and build makeshift structures using cardboard, tarps and other scrap materials. Each structure will be judged for creativity, and a prize will be awarded for the best design. Participants may sleep in their hut overnight on April 5 in order to experience what it is like to live in such conditions. Members of other campus organizations to participate include the Black Student Union (BSU), Greek Life, Student Access Program, and additional Lynn students.

“We are hoping that the tent city will give the Lynn Community insight on what it looks and feels like to live in poverty,” said Lindsay Doran, Lynn’s Students For The Poor president.

Several of the club members have traveled to Haiti and/ or Jamaica with the South Florida-based nonprofit Food For The Poor. The on campus activity serves as a special remembrance to honor the students and faculty who traveled on Lynn University’s 2010 J-Term Journey of Hope courses with Food For The Poor. One of the groups arrived a day before the catastrophic earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, instantly claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. Doran is one of the Haiti Journey of Hope survivors.

Considering the impact the Haiti earthquake had on the Lynn University campus, and the recent dedication of Lynn University’s Remembrance Plaza, the Students For The Poor club is prepared to answer questions from their campus community about destitute living conditions in Haiti and Jamaica.

“With the recent dedication of the Remembrance Plaza that memorializes the two professors and four students we lost in the Haiti earthquake two years ago, Students For The Poor thought this was a great way to continue the compassion to help those in Haiti like Dr. Richard Bruno, Dr. Patrick Hartwick, Britney Gengel, Courtney Hayes, Christine Gianacaci, and Stephanie Crispinelli set out to do,” said Doran. “Our group believes it is appropriate to continue their mission of helping the people of Haiti by providing aid to those who continue to suffer from the result of such a catastrophic natural disaster.”

Two years after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, some of the Lynn University survivors and friends and families of those who died returned to Haiti. They completed the mission that their loved ones began and inaugurated The Journey of Hope Memorial Village, built by Food For The Poor to celebrate the lives, love and sacrifice of the Lynn University students and faculty, on the two-year anniversary of one of the most devastating earthquakes in the Caribbean nation’s history. Many of the 42 families in The Journey of Hope Memorial Village in Croix-des-Bouquets are earthquake survivors from Cité Soleíl.

For $3,200, Food For The Poor can build a housing unit with sanitation to replace a crumbling shack that leaks when it rains. Since January 2010, Food For The Poor has constructed more than 2,700 two-room homes in Haiti, complete with concrete foundations, locking doors, windows, and a zinc roof with hurricane straps.

To support their effort, make checks out to Food For The Poor and include a special reference number “SC# 64619” so the money can be attributed to Lynn University’s Students For The Poor campaign.

You can learn more about Food For The Poor’s 2012 mission trips by e-mailing missions@foodforthepoor.com. You can also involve your school in Food For The Poor’s mission by calling 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6641 or e-mailing churchschool@foodforthepoor.org.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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

Canned food collected and donated by local Boy Scouts

What started out as a service project for a group of local Boy Scouts on a quest to earn their Eagle Scout Badges, turned into a passionate mission to help the poor.

Six weeks and more than 90 volunteer hours later, 17-year-old Michael Raghunandan and 10 of his fellow Boy Scouts collected 2,500 cans of beans, spam, mackerel and other food items. The boys gave up several weekends to set up collection boxes at the Publix in Cutler Bay, the Villages of Palmetto Bay, the Palmetto Bay Golf Course, and at their local places of worship.

Raghunandan, whose parents are from Guyana and the Cayman Islands, is a student at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay and spearheaded this canned food collection project. He dreams of attending the University of Miami and wants to major in Health Sciences. He said this project took on a special meaning after his research of various nonprofits led him to Food For The Poor.

“We were so impressed that 96 percent of every donation to the organization is used to benefit people and different projects in both Latin America and the Caribbean. After learning the details, we knew this is where we wanted our canned foods to go,” said Raghunandan. “It makes me feel great to be able to put a smile on the faces of people who do not have the basic necessities of life, such as food, water, or even clothing. We are happy we can help.”

The group of Boy Scouts, who represent the Homestead area, personally delivered their donation to Food For The Poor’s headquarters in Coconut Creek on Friday. The donated canned items, along with dozens of can openers, will be divided and shipped to Guyana and Trinidad.

“We are so very appreciative of this group of young men who worked so hard to make this generous donation to Food For The Poor. Hundreds of children soon will benefit from their kindness, which is a blessing to both the givers and the receivers,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 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:
Wanda Wright
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com