Friday, February 28, 2014

“Fight Hunger” Challenge

PFood For The Poor feeds hundreds of thousands a day in the 17 Caribbean and Latin American countries it serves.
Food For The Poor feeds hundreds of thousands a day in the 17 Caribbean and Latin American countries it serves. A donation of $14.60 will feed a family of four for a month. Rice and beans is an excellent source of protein and are the foundation for the nutritious meals Food For The Poor provides.

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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 28, 2014) – For 32, years Food For The Poor has faithfully cared for the basic needs of people living in unimaginable poverty in parts of the Caribbean and Latin America. The ministry got its start in Jamaica in 1982, but has since grown to become an international relief and development organization that feeds hundreds of thousands a day in the 17 countries it serves.

Rising food and fuel costs are straining the charity’s ability to buy food and transport it to people who are desperate for nutrition. To help overcome this obstacle, the organization will be participating in the 17th Annual $1 Million Giveaway to Fight Hunger Challenge. Food For The Poor is one of dozens of nonprofits that will benefit from this challenge, but the more donations made on behalf of the ministry, the more money the organization will receive.

Here’s how this will work:

The funds for the challenge are coming from the Feinstein Foundation, which is based in Cranston, R.I. The money will be divided proportionately among all charities. A minimum of $250 and a maximum of $35,000 will go to each participating organization.

Food For The Poor is very efficient – and can feed a family of four for one month for just $14.60. A donation to the “Fight Hunger” Challenge will help the charity stretch its dollars even further.

“We are extremely grateful to the Feinstein Foundation for providing our donors with this unique opportunity to grow their donations by taking part in this unparalleled campaign, which will help us to feed thousands of hungry families,” 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 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Show House Visitors Fund 5 Homes in Haiti

Proceeds will build five homes in Ganthier, Haiti.
Proceeds from the Designer Show House event will build five homes in Ganthier, Haiti.

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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (February 26, 2014) – Almost 700 people visited Lighthouse Interiors’ “Tour a House, Build a House” Designer Show House event over the weekend, making it possible for Food For The Poor to build five homes for desperate families living in mud huts in Ganthier, Haiti.

For three festive days, Feb. 21-23, visitors enjoyed tours of the 10,000-square-foot luxury home located at 2316 NE 30th Court in Lighthouse Point. Attendees were also treated to a wine-tasting, champagne, decadent dessert, live steel pan music, and a swimwear fashion show.

Displaying a mix of both traditional and contemporary styles, a dozen of the area’s top designers joined Bridget Conway, principal of Lighthouse Interiors, in transforming the home’s empty rooms and outdoor areas into inviting living quarters.

“We brought in a prominent group of South Florida designers who graciously agreed to share their incredible talents by imparting their magic throughout the house,” said Conway. “Without this fantastic team’s generosity, we could not have produced this showcase to generate much-needed funds to build safe and secure homes for some of the poorest families in Haiti.”

Ganthier is a small, rural community in Haiti where many families live without running water, electricity and very little food. Event proceeds will provide sturdy, two-room homes constructed with concrete block, poured cement foundations, and zinc roofs. Each home will be powered with solar energy and equipped with sanitation.

“Food For The Poor was honored to have Bridget Conway and all of the talented designers lend time, effort and extraordinary skill to support such an important cause,” said Robin Mahfood, President of Food For The Poor. “The houses we build for the people of Ganthier are more than just brick and mortar. They offer a foundation of hope.”

“Tour a House, Build a House” officially opened with a VIP reception on Thursday, Feb. 20, and offered guests eye-catching decor, cocktails courtesy of Bacardi, and a selection of gourmet samples prepared and served by Executive Chef Nestor “Alex” Amaya of El Tamarindo Café.  The event also featured a colorful fashion show hosted by Styles Boutique, a silent auction, music by Miami’s DJ UP, and door prizes.

The South Florida designers who joined Bridget Conway in the design of the home are Kenneth Crawford of Kenneth Crawford Interiors; Ellen de Vos of Michael Taylor Designs; Frances Herrera of Frances Herrera Interior Design; Sonia Lise Longchamp ASID, Kay Smith, and Gene Valentino of Sklar Furnishings; Kendall Marcelle of Kendall Marcelle Design Associates, Inc.; Bernard and Stephanie Molyneux, owners of ACP Home Interiors; Sabrina Wilson of Lighthouse Interiors; Century Furniture; TBG Partners and Spruce Home & Garden.

The premier sponsor for the 2014 Designer Show House was Campbell & Rosemurgy Real Estate. Additional sponsors included Bacardi Limited, El Tamarindo Café, U.S.A. Transportation, Bay Branch Foundation, Bayview Animal Clinic, Heritage Investment Group, Les Bijoux, LLC, Sheehan Buick GMC, The Prenner Team — Cathy and Jack Prenner and Wells Fargo.

For more information, visit foodforthepoor.org/showhousegallery.    

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 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Sevenly Partnership for Kids

Food For The Poor and Sevenly.org, a cause marketing organization, joined together to raise enough funds to feed more than 1,800 impoverished children in Guatemala for two months.
Food For The Poor and Sevenly.org, a cause marketing organization, joined together to raise enough funds to feed more than 1,800 impoverished children in Guatemala for two months.

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 26, 2014) – Food For The Poor and Sevenly.org have completed a one-week campaign that has raised enough funds to feed more than 1,800 hungry children in Guatemala for two months.

"We deeply admire the work of Food For The Poor, and we felt honored to team up with the organization for a campaign partnership,” said Megan Guerra, Director of Charity Relations for Sevenly.

For a period of seven days, Sevenly - a cause marketing organization created nearly three years ago - sold limited-edition merchandise on behalf of Food For The Poor. A donation of $7 from each purchase was used to aid the charity’s hunger relief efforts in the Central American country, where more than half of the population lives below the poverty line.

 “I commend the awesome work Sevenly is doing to bring awareness to great causes,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “I am simply amazed at what our two organizations, with the help of supporters, were able to accomplish in only a matter of days for needy children in Guatemala. The meals provided will be truly lifesaving.”

Food For The Poor provides food, shelter, water and agricultural training to hundreds of thousands living in developing countries. Earlier this month, the charity commemorated 32 years of service.

To make a tax-deductible donation to Food For The Poor, visit www.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 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. 

About Sevenly
Sevenly is a co-profit company founded in June 2011 to raise capital and awareness for the world’s greatest causes. Each week Sevenly partners with one qualified nonprofit to sell a shirt specifically designed for that week’s campaign, with seven dollars from each shirt sale going to the charity. Run by CEO Dale Partridge, the company’s goal is to provide support to charities through increased awareness, funding and following. To learn more about Sevenly, visit http://www.Sevenly.org.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Thanks its Donors for 32 Years of Love

This mother and her children in Guyana were provided a new home by generous Food For The Poor donors.
This mother and her children in Guyana were provided a new home by generous Food For The Poor donors. Since the charity's inception, more than 91,000 housing units have been built.

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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2014) – On its 32nd anniversary of serving the poor, Food For The Poor thanks its donors for what they have done for the most destitute in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. The ministry that started out as a feeding program in Jamaica has grown exponentially to become the largest international relief organization in the United States, with associated charities in Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica and Canada.

“Our donors truly have heard the cries of the poor. It is amazing to think what they have done for the very poorest of the poor for all of these years,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Ranging from the smallest, most innocent child to the wisest elders of our community, our donors have one thing in common – huge hearts that have a place in them for the poor.”

The ministry, through its dedicated donors, has built more than 91,000 housing units, shipped almost 67,000 containers filled with essential goods, and delivered more than $10 billion in aid since its inception in 1982.  In 2013 alone, 33 schools were built or expanded, 12 of which were in Haiti, a country that lost most of its schools in the 2010 earthquake. Almost 300 water wells and other clean water projects were completed.

The charity’s desire to align ever more closely with its generous supporters resulted this year in a Pledge to Donors, written by Executive Director Angel Aloma. The pledge reads, in part:

Because you have a desire to give,
We have an opportunity to fulfill that desire.
Because you have choice in charitable giving,
Our service must be superior.
Because you have a sense of urgency,
We must act promptly.
Because you have expectations,
We must exceed them.

“An intense feeling of gratitude inspired me to write this for our donors in appreciation for their generosity and compassion, and my dream is that it inspires us to continue to work closely together for those who have nothing and are counting on us for their very lives,” Aloma said. The pledge can be read in its entirety at www.foodforthepoor.org/pledge

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 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.