Longtime Donor Invests in Haiti

Boca Snowbird Invests in Sustainable Projects to Grow Haiti

	Anthony "Tony" Pestritto cut the ribbon to officially dedicate the school he built in Grand Boulage, Haiti, with Food For The Poor.
Related Items: Support the Bee Farming Program See Photos From the Haiti Trip

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 13, 2015) – A longtime Food For The Poor donor, committed to investing in Haiti’s future, recognizes he is alive by the grace of God and feels compelled to give back to others. “I could have died many times during my life,” said Anthony ‘Tony’ Pestritto, 88, a resident of Sea Isle, New Jersey and Boca Raton, Florida. “Life is finite – you never know.”

Pestritto’s passion over the years has risen from baking old-style, authentic, Sicilian bread in South Jersey at the family’s bakery, to building schools, and investing in sustainable projects throughout Haiti.

Pestritto traveled to Grand Boulage, Haiti, with Food For The Poor representatives in the fall to dedicate a school he built to give more than 540 students the best possible education. Before his generous donation, classes were conducted in a dilapidated building that lacked furniture and only had one latrine.

“Tony Pestritto is a man of action,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor's Executive Director. “By investing in the education and training of people in Haiti, he has equipped them with the knowledge necessary to escape a life of poverty. There are future doctors, lawyers, teachers, and architects at Grand Boulage School, that without Mr. Pestritto’s vision and generosity would never realize their full potential.”

“Our heart’s desire is to take Haiti’s meager education system beyond its standing prior to the earthquake, to a system that grants every child a life-changing opportunity to receive a quality education,” said Delane Bailey-Herd, Haiti Project Manager for Food For The Poor.

During the school dedication ceremony, Pestritto emphasized that the keys to achieving your dreams are the desire, strength, courage and determination to realize your goals.

“Your treasure is this building,” said Pestritto, to the hundreds of students wearing blue and white uniforms in the open-air auditorium. “You must use the treasure inside of you, the magical keys of will, effort, and determination in learning. Then what you want to be in life will be unlocked. It is here, given to you by people who care and love you.”

These same life lessons permitted Pestritto’s relatives to successfully emigrate from Italy and, with hard work, steadily grow a business. The American way of life, and the way the bakery did business dramatically changed in 1942 with the start of World War II.  

Like other Americans, his brothers were drafted to fight, and Pestritto served in the Navy for a year before he was discharged.

“During World War II, because we were feeding the world with 16 million troops overseas, cities allowed victory gardens,” said Pestritto. “We always had fresh produce. I want to see that in Haiti.”

In September 2014, Pestritto invested in an agricultural project in the community of La Rochiquite, in Hinche, Haiti, to improve the productivity of small-scale farmers. The farmers have been provided oxen, plows, and agricultural irrigation pumps to help produce fields of corn, tomato, green pepper, and eggplant. The community’s proximity to the Guayamouc River helps with the irrigation of the gardens.

Pestritto and his late second wife, Agnes, also chose to invest in the training of 130 bee farmers with Food For The Poor in Central Plateau, Haiti. The farmers received training and supplies to start their operation.

“I am elated about this project,” said Pestritto. “I want milk and honey to flow all over the island. I want to see it happen one day. I want to see it grow.”

Pestritto and his first wife, Rose, were first inspired to donate to Food For The Poor after they heard a speaker at a church in Margate, Fla., who was from their parish in New Jersey. Intent on honoring her memory, Pestritto built Rosie’s Kitchen in 1999 with Food For The Poor to provide low-cost meals to factory workers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

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.

Businessman Values Giving Back

Major Building Hope Gala Sponsor Knows What Giving Me

	Jay DiPietro was honored as the 2014 Ambassador For The Poor. His fundraising efforts, along with fellow members of the Club Managers Association of America, helped build the first Food For The Poor school in Haiti following the massive 2010 earthquake.
Related Items: Reserve Your Gala Table Donate to Help Build a Home in Haiti

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 9, 2015) – Through hard work and perseverance, one of Food For The Poor’s major Building Hope Gala sponsors has been able to succeed in life, and generously bless other disadvantaged children.

Philanthropist Jay DiPietro, President/COO/General Manager of Boca West Country Club, deeply values the importance of helping others, because he knows firsthand what it means to be poor.

“When I was a kid I grew up in the slums; my brothers and I, we had it really rough,” said DiPietro, who delivered newspapers before and after school when he was just 10 and a half years old. “We were first generation, our parents were immigrants, and my father struggled to make enough money to support us.

“We knew what it was like to go to bed hungry; not as bad as the kids in Haiti, but compared to other Americans we were really in bad straits,” said DiPietro, who grew up in Boston. “You know, you wish and you pray, and you hope to God you will get out of it and my mother always said ‘work hard, just keep working hard, and you will get out.’ Thank God we live in America. We are the luckiest people in the world.” 

Last year, DiPietro was honored as the 2014 Ambassador For The Poor. DiPietro was recognized for more than 20 years of charity work throughout Palm Beach County. His fundraising efforts, along with fellow members of the Club Managers Association of America, helped build the first Food For The Poor school in Haiti following the massive 2010 earthquake.

Mary Wong, President of the Office Depot Foundation, whose philanthropic endeavors are also recognized throughout the community, will be recognized as Food For The Poor’s 2015 Ambassador For The Poor at the 20th annual Building Hope Gala on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, at Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton.

Food For The Poor remains committed to its building initiative in Haiti. From January 2010 to December 2014, the charity built or restored 35 schools in the Port-au-Prince region, and constructed 5,015 two-room homes in Haiti.

Attendees at the 20th annual Building Hope Gala will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build Food For The Poor houses for people desperately in need of adequate shelter in the area surrounding Pon Batay, Haiti. A gift of $3,200 will move a destitute family from their dirt-floor makeshift shack, into a permanent home.

This year’s sponsor, J.R. Dunn Jewelers, in Lighthouse Point, Florida, will offer gala attendees an exclusive way to contribute to build critically needed houses for destitute families. For a $100 donation at the event, guests will enter a chance to win a $5,000 shopping spree at J.R. Dunn Jewelers.

Shaggy and The Hot Shot Band will perform at the gala, while chef Ron Duprat – who appeared on the reality TV show “Top Chef” – has offered to share his passion for cooking with attendees to help build homes in his homeland of Haiti. At the event, attendees can bid on a 12-course dinner prepared by the French-trained executive chef for 25 guests at the home of the winning bidder. Additional silent auction prizes will include electronics, jewelry, vacations, golf and dining packages. This year’s theme is old Hollywood glamor.

For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, sponsorship opportunities and tickets, available at $250 per person, please call 888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

The Building Hope Gala Chairwoman is Rene Turner-Mahfood, and additional committee members include Wedler Alexandre, Carlos Bodden, Matthew Bryant, Becky Carlsson, Ronda Ellis Ged, LaMae Klos, Susan Krassen, Julie Mahfood, Tashia Rahl, Kara Seelye, Deborah Shapiro and Renee Stetler.

Gala sponsors to date include Club Managers Association of America, Dennis Charley & Associates, DKB Trade Concepts Inc., Gregory's Fine Jewelry, Innovvaire, J.R. Dunn Jewelers, Leslie L. Alexander Foundation, McFFe Group, MOR Printing, Oceans 234, Office Depot Foundation, Premier Aircraft Sales, Seaboard Marine, TD Bank, Teemlink Ltd., The Calmark Group, The Levitetz Family Foundation, Trinity Direct, United Healthcare and The Boca Raton Observer.

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.

Shaggy to Perform at Gala

Grammy award-winning reggae star Shaggy to celebrate gala milestone

	Shaggy (left) talks with Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood. Shaggy, a longtime supporter of the South Florida based-nonprofit, will perform at the 20th annual Building Hope Gala Feb. 6, 2015.
Related Item: Reserve Your Seat

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 29, 2014) – Come build homes and provide hope for Haiti with award-winning reggae artist, Shaggy, at Food For The Poor’s 20th annual Building Hope Gala, Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, at Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton. Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses in Pon Batay, Haiti.

“Shaggy is a true friend of Food For The Poor,” said Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood. “Thanks to Shaggy, the determination of Building Hope Gala committee members, and the South Florida community, Food For The Poor is positioned to build even more homes to commemorate the gala’s 20th anniversary.” 

Shaggy a longtime supporter of the South Florida based-nonprofit Food For The Poor, will perform at the 20th annual Building Hope Gala. Shaggy’s philanthropic giving is based on the premise that “to whom much is given, much is required.”

“The gift of a safe, secure home is a tremendous blessing for a family who lives in a crumbling one-room shack, and does not know where there next meal will come from,” said Mahfood. “A home offers more than shelter to a destitute family – it offers hope.”   

Since inception, Food For The Poor has built more than 91,000 housing units for people desperately in need of adequate shelter. A gift of $3,200 will move a destitute family from their dirt-floor makeshift shack in Pon Batay, into a permanent home. The community’s dire living conditions are compounded by the lack of clean drinking water in the area. Pon Batay residents must walk miles to the nearest community to fetch water from a well.

Supporters who donate a Food For The Poor home in advance of the Building Hope Gala will be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to New York Fashion Week in September 2015. The winner and guest will travel to New York in style, wearing custom-made dresses, selected by an A-List wardrobe stylist. Hotel and airfare accommodations are included in the package. Each home donated between Nov. 1 and midnight on February 5, 2015, will generate an entry for the drawing. The winning ticket will be pulled during the gala.

At the event, attendees will be able to bid on additional silent auction prizes, such as electronics, jewelry, vacations, golf and dining packages at Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Drive, Boca Raton, Fla. 33434. This year’s theme is old Hollywood glamor.

The Building Hope Gala committee has organized a pre-event party on Nov. 13 at Shop DNA, Royal Palm Place, 1000 Plaza Real S., Suite E, Boca Raton, FL 33432. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to Food For The Poor. Lea Black, from the cast of The Real Housewives of Miami Season 3, will attend the event. Please call Hillary Wallace at 888-404-4248 to request an invitation.

For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, sponsorship opportunities, and tickets, available at $250 per person, please call 888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

Committee members include Wedler Alexandre, Carlos Bodden, Matthew Bryant, Becky Carlsson, Gregory Fried, Ronda Ellis Ged, Erin Heit, Susan Krassen, Julie Mahfood, Rene Mahfood, Dan Overbey, Tashia Rahl, Candace Rojas, Kara Seelye, Dr. Deborah Shapiro, Renee Stetler and Max Tucci.

Gala sponsors include Leslie L. Alexander Foundation, Boca Raton Observer, Club Managers Association of America, Dennis Charley & Associates, Inc., Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Oceans 234, Seaboard Marine, TD Bank, and Trinity Direct.

Shaggy won a Grammy for his album “Boombastic,” and was nominated for “It Wasn’t Me,” “Intoxication,” “Hotshot,” and “Summer in Kingston.” Shaggy has sold more than 20 million albums and has had seven number-one albums. Shaggy has also had eight number-one hit singles.

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.

Tessanne Chin

	Tessanne Chin
Related Item: Reserve Your Gala Table

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 9, 2014) – The winner of Season 5 of NBC’s The Voice, Tessanne Chin, will sing at Food For The Poor’s  Building Hope Gala, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton. Tessanne will perform her new single “Tumbling Down” to encourage attendees to replace poor families’ dilapidated huts in Ganthier, Haiti, with safe, permanent houses.

When asked how winning The Voice in December 2013 has changed her life, Tessanne says she keeps pinching herself.

“Tessanne’s reaction to the news that she won The Voice is similar to the immense joy and disbelief that destitute families experience when they are moved from their crudely built huts into sturdy Food For The Poor homes,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Food For The Poor would like to thank Tessanne for generously lending her voice to lift families out of extreme poverty. The life-altering difference a new Food For The Poor house makes for families living in deplorable conditions is incredible. When a family expresses their gratitude for their new Food For The Poor house, it is not uncommon for them to refer to it as their piece of heaven.”

Building Hope Gala committee members Allison Venditti and Kara Seelye journeyed to the desert-like community of Ganthier with Food For The Poor in October to see firsthand the remote community’s needs. Both Boca residents were appalled by the residents’ living conditions. The barefoot children that emerged from the crudely built huts were covered in dust and malnourished.

“It is the worst situation I have seen,” said Venditti, a Building Hope Gala committee member. “The houses are made of little sticks and mud, with thatched roofs. These families are just trying to survive.”

Tickets to the Caribbean Carnival-themed Building Hope Gala are available at $250 per person. Please call 954-427-2222, ext. 6634 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca for additional information and sponsorship opportunities.

Jason Martinez, co-anchor for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 Morning News and Local 10 News at Noon, will serve as the gala’s master of ceremonies for a second consecutive year. The evening also features an extensive silent auction, cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, and dancing. Bidding on silent auction prizes such as electronics, jewelry, vacations, golf and dining packages will offer guests opportunities to support the cause.

This year’s committee and Gregory Fried, owner of Gregory’s Fine Jewelry in Delray Beach, have devised a unique way to inspire gala attendees to contribute toward making a difference in the lives of others. For a donation at the event, guests will enter for the chance to win a stunning piece of jewelry donated by Gregory’s Fine Jewelry. The 18-karat white gold diamond earrings weigh 2.92 carats, and are valued at $6,000.

Jay DiPietro, President/COO/General Manager of Boca West Country Club, will be honored at the gala as the 2014 Ambassador For The Poor.

Committee members include Carlos Bodden, Matthew Bryant, Becky Carlsson, Kim Fox, Ronda Ellis Ged, Susan Krassan, Rene Mahfood, Dan Overbey, Tashia Rahl, Lauren Roberts, Kara Seelye, Deborah Shapiro, Renee Stetler and Allison Venditti.

Gala sponsors include AKA Printing and Mailing, Akoya at Boca West, Boca West Country Club, Dennis Charley & Associates, Inc., Dusco Doors, Ellis, Ged & Bodden, PA, Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Miller Construction Company, Quadriga Art, LLC, Seaboard Marine, ShowTurf, The Harcourt M. and Virginia W. Sylvester Foundation, TD Bank, United Healthcare, VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, The Wallace Family, Workaway International and The Boca Raton Observer.

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.

Building Hope Gala Committee Members Journey to Jamaica

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Dec. 5, 2012) – Huddled inside a desperate family’s dark, dilapidated shack in Jamaica, members of the Building Hope Gala committee offered the promise of new Food For The Poor homes.

“We have poverty in our country, but the levels are just so different,” said Cathy Moabery, a gala committee chair. “I feel so much for the children. It’s not their fault. How can you not give them a bed to sleep on? How can you not give them a dry home?”
On Dec. 3, committee members from Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Lighthouse Point  and Parkland traveled to Canaan Heights in May Pen, Jamaica, with Food For The Poor to meet the residents and to see the community’s deplorable living conditions.
“Families with small children live crammed together in a space smaller than some people’s closets,” said Robin Knowles, a committee member. “They have no running water, no sanitation, no electricity, leaky roofs, holes in the walls, literally just pieces of tin patched together to make a home.”

One of the small dilapidated shacks they visited was home to a mother and her six children. She shared how rough and dangerous life is for her family. At times she has thought how much easier life would be if she was to run away and leave the children behind, but she cannot imagine leaving them. Instead, she prays and has kept a detailed diary documenting her tears, fears and frustrations.

“Overwhelmingly, the women want more for their lives but they are stuck,” said Laurie Braden, a committee member. “No help, no husbands, no income, and little to feed their children. I did see hope in all of them, but at the same time how stuck they are.”  Proceeds from the upcoming Building Hope Gala in Boca Raton will build safe and secure new homes with sanitation for 65 impoverished families in Canaan Heights.
“When you hear about the poverty in Jamaica, you can’t imagine the reality until you see it firsthand,” said Knowles. “The level of poverty is just shocking. Especially when we live in a place like Boca, and even though there are places in need locally, it just doesn’t compare.”

The 2013 Building Hope Gala will be Saturday, Feb. 2, at The Polo Club of Boca Raton. Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses in Jamaica during the charity’s live house rally.

“The Building Hope Gala is not just a saying – we are building hope and homes for families,” said Becky Carlsson, a gala committee chair. “I am amazed that it is 2012 and that people live in such extreme poverty.”

For additional information regarding the 2013 Building Hope Gala, sponsorship levels, and tickets, available at $250 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

“If people can’t attend the Gala, I hope they will consider making a donation toward a house that will drastically change someone’s life. Every donation helps,” said Carlsson.
The Building Hope Gala committee will host a pre-event on Dec. 6, in time for the holiday season. Join the committee for champagne and hors d’oeuvres at Gregory’s Fine Jewelry in Delray Beach’s The Addison Shops to purchase a dazzling piece of jewelry for your loved one. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated toward the gala’s homebuilding efforts in Jamaica.

Committee members for the 2013 Building Hope Gala include Laurie Braden, Kelly Brauner, Becky Carlsson, Melissa Davimos, Ronda Ellis Ged, Ronda Gluck, Michele Greene, LaMae Klos, Robin Ranzal Knowles, Julie Mahfood, Rene Mahfood, Pamela Matsil, Cathy Moabery, Jill Perea, Tashia Rahl, Kara Seelye, Natasha Singh, Renee Stetler, Holly Strogoff, Allison Venditti, Patricia Wallace, and Traci Wilson.
Master of ceremonies, Jason Martinez, co-anchor for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 Morning News and Local 10 News at Noon, traveled to Jamaica in August to cover the island’s golden jubilee.

Gala sponsors include AKA Printing and Mailing, Aljoma Lumber, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Bank United, Bluegreen Corporation, The Boca Raton Observer, Dennis Charley & Associates, Inc., Dusco Doors, Ellis, Ged, & Bodden,  Franklin Dodd Communications, GA Telesis, Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Quadriga Art, LLC, Seaboard Marine, TD Bank, and VITAS Innovative Hospice Care.

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.

Building Hope Gala committee members travel to Haiti to open doors

 Building Hope Gala committee members from the Boca Raton and Parkland communities traveled to Haiti Oct. 8-9 with the South Florida-based nonprofit Food For The Poor. They were celebrating the inauguration of newly constructed homes, built with proceeds from February’s gala, giving 50 families a new start in life.

“It is so great to know that our gala was able to build safe and secure homes for the people of Olivier,” said Becky Carlsson, gala committee member. “Because Haiti has been out of the media for a while, I think that people don’t realize that the devastation still exists. You should come and see it with your own eyes.”

In November 2011, committee members traveled to Olivier, Haiti, to see the community’s deplorable living conditions and to learn how they could help the nonprofit improve the residents’ lives.

“It’s really nice to be able to see something that you worked so hard toward,” said Allison Venditti, gala committee member. “There’s so much energy in this village. I got the impression that they feel powerful now and they believe they can do anything.”

 “I was unsure what to expect,” said LaMae Klos after her first day in Haiti. “What impressed me the most was the pride on the people’s faces. It was incredibly moving.”

Since the 2010 earthquake, Food For The Poor has built more than 3,899 permanent two-room homes in Haiti. Tropical Storm Isaac’s recent path through the Caribbean reminded many how vulnerable the poor are who live in tents and makeshift shacks.

“It was important for members of the committee to return to Olivier to rejoice with villagers on the completion of their village in only five months,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s President/CEO. “The conditions that we have found so many needy children and their families living in are heart wrenching and unimaginable.”

The 2013 Building Hope Gala will be Saturday, February 2, at The Polo Club of Boca Raton. Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses in Jamaica during the charity’s live house-rally.

Master of ceremonies, Jason Martinez, co-anchor for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 Morning News and Local 10 News at Noon, traveled to Jamaica in August to cover the island’s golden jubilee.

“I saw the poverty with my own eyes and there is much work needed to be done to provide housing and assistance to the people of Jamaica,” said Martinez.

For additional information regarding the 2013 Building Hope Gala, sponsorship levels, and tickets, available at $250 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

The Building Hope Gala committee will host a pre-event on Dec. 6, in time for the holiday season. Join the committee for champagne and hors d’oeuvres at Gregory’s Fine Jewelry in Delray Beach’s The Addison Shops to purchase a dazzling piece of jewelry for your loved ones. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated toward the gala’s home building efforts in Jamaica.

Committee members for the 2013 Building Hope Gala include Laurie Braden, Kelly Brauner, Becky Carlsson, Melissa Davimos, Ronda Ellis Ged, Ronda Gluck, Michele Greene, LaMae Klos, Robin Ranzal Knowles, Julie Mahfood, Rene Mahfood, Pamela Matsil, Cathy Moabery, Jill Perea, Tashia Rahl, Kara Seelye, Natasha Singh, Renee Stetler, Holly Strogoff, Allison Venditti, Patricia Wallace, and Traci Wilson.

Gala sponsors include Aljoma Lumber, AKA Printing and Mailing, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Bluegreen Corporation, Dennis Charley & Associates, Inc., Dusco Doors, Franklin Dodd Communications, Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Haiti Shipping Lines, Inc., Quadriga Art, LLC, Seaboard Marine, TD Bank, and VITAS Innovative Hospice Care.

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

Five Months, 50 Homes, 50 Families

Fifty families have moved into secure homes in Olivier, Deuxieme Plaine, Haiti, just weeks before the hurricane season traditionally heats up in the Caribbean. These permanent homes were built from funds raised in February at the Building Hope Gala in Boca Raton, Fla. Construction on the homes and community center started in March, and all of the families were moved to safety by mid-July.

“The appalling conditions that we have found so many children and their families living in throughout the Caribbean and Latin America are unimaginable,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor's President/CEO. “Without safe, permanent shelter the destitute are often wet and cold when it rains, and live in fear of landslides sweeping them into the sea.”

For more than 30 years, Food For The Poor has worked to bring relief to poor families, caring for their basic needs, and giving them a chance to live and work again. In addition to building the 50 two-room homes and community center in Olivier, chicken and cattle rearing projects have also been implemented with money raised at the gala.

“I can’t believe people have to live like this, it really breaks my heart,” said committee member Becky Carlsson, as she described the inhumane conditions she witnessed in Haiti. “They are not really houses, they are little one-room shacks of metal and tin that families live in.”

The 2012 committee chairs included Cathy and Abdol Moabery (Event Co-Chairpersons), Ronda and David Gluck (Event Co-Chairpersons), and Rene and Francis Mahfood (Honorary Chairpersons).

The 18th annual gala will be Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton. For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, benefactor levels, and tickets, available at $250 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses in Jamaica during the charity’s “live house rally.” There are pockets of immense poverty throughout Jamaica, but because the country relies heavily on tourism, the harsh reality of destitution often is concealed.

“With the support of Food For The Poor’s donors and committees such as this, we have been able to raise enough funds to build 10 homes a day, seven days a week in the countries we serve,” said Mahfood. “Each home has two rooms, plus a toilet and a shower, and a porch for cooking. They are ‘a shelter from the raging wind and the storm.’ ” (Psalm 55:8).

Since the earthquake, Food For The Poor has built 3,261 two-room homes in Haiti.

Committee members for the 2013 Building Hope Gala include Laurie Braden, Kelly Brauner, Becky Carlsson, Melissa Davimos, Ronda Ellis Ged, Ronda Gluck, Michele Greene, LaMae Klos, Robin Ranzal Knowles, Julie Mahfood, Rene Mahfood, Pamela Matsil, Cathy Moabery, Jill Perea
Tashia Rahl, Kara Seelye, Natasha Singh, Renee Stetler, Holly Strogoff, Allison Venditti, Patricia Wallace, and Traci Wilson.

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

Student reporters from Saint Andrew’s Middle School tour Food For The Poor

As field reporters and community service volunteers, 19 students from Saint Andrew’s Middle School held a “mud cookie” from Haiti and learned what it means to be destitute in a developing country while touring Food For The Poor’s headquarters in Coconut Creek, Fla. on March 2. Their mission was to bring awareness about the agency and the wider international community it serves to their peers on the Boca Raton campus.

As an introduction to Food For The Poor, the group was shown a video documenting the charity’s 30 years of service to the destitute. The ministry, through its dedicated donors, has built more than 77,000 homes, sent more than 60,000 containers filled with essential goods to the 17 countries it serves, and has delivered more than $9 billion in aid since its inception. Optimistic about the challenges that lay ahead, Food For The Poor shared its goal for 2012 to build 12,000 homes, dig 1,200 water wells, and ship 1,200 containers of food to help the destitute.

During the group’s orientation, they heard about the harsh realities of life in developing countries and firsthand accounts from the South Florida-based charity’s President/CEO, Robin Mahfood. One of the photos shared with the group was of a young Nicaraguan girl. Mahfood explained how destitute families do not enjoy the luxury of access to water in their homes with the simple twist of a faucet. As part of their daily chores, little girls in developing countries often have to carry heavy water buckets on their heads for miles over rocky ground to gather water for the family to drink, cook and clean.

“Her chore of fetching water perpetuates poverty,” said Mahfood. “If you are not educated, it is hard to rise above a life of poverty.”

Through the installation of water wells in remote villages, and the implementation of school feeding programs, students from Saint Andrew’s learned how the charity is working to eradicate poverty – one person, one family at a time.

Michelle Blum, one of the Saint Andrew’s faculty members, said the idea of not having access to clean, safe water is hard for most people to imagine.

“Tonight, I ask all of you to tell your parents that you are a philanthropist,” said Paul Kane, Food For The Poor’s Manager of Church, School and Community Development. “To be a philanthropist means, to love human beings. We at Food For The Poor do all that we do because we love others.”

The orientation concluded with a tour of Food For The Poor’s facility and distribution center.

You can learn how to involve your school in Food For The Poor’s mission by calling 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6641 or emailing churchschool@foodforthepoor.com.

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

Reggae star shakes up Building Hope Gala’s house rally, sets new record

Thanks to the compassion of 375 South Florida residents at Food For The Poor’s Building Hope Gala on Saturday, Feb. 4 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton, enough money was raised to construct 100 houses, a community center, and an animal husbandry project of 20 cows in Olivier, Deuxieme Plaine, Haiti. The gala coincided with Food For The Poor’s 30th anniversary, which will be celebrated on Sunday, February 12.

“I would like to suggest we are the voice for the voiceless,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor, as he addressed the guests and thanked the committee members for their commitment to the poor. “Every person here is a human key that can unlock a brighter future.”

The 2012 Grammy nominee and award-winning reggae artist Shaggy also performed at the nonprofit’s charity gala to shine a light on Haiti’s desperate need for permanent housing. He treated the crowd to Boombastic, Angel, It Wasn’t Me, and Sugarcane. Shaggy is a 2012 Grammy nominee for his new album, Summer in Kingston.

A video that documents seven of the committee members’ November trip to Haiti was shown at the gala to help those who have never traveled to a developing country visualize the inhumane living conditions of Haiti’s destitute.

“I witnessed firsthand the desperate struggle that hundreds of thousands of human beings face on a daily basis,” said Ronda Gluck, the Event’s Co-Chairperson as she shared her experience in Haiti with attendees. “Food, fresh water, toilets and shelter are things that are at a premium instead of in abundance. Food For The Poor, through housing projects like the one we are raising money for tonight, provides food for the hungry, homes for the homeless and hope for the hopeless.”

As the gala’s name implies, attendees gathered to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses during the charity’s live house-rally. This year, guests pledged enough funding to construct a record 100 houses – to restore hope and to shelter the destitute in Olivier.

“No matter how much money you think has already been raised for the people of Haiti, it is simply not enough. The need is unimaginable,” said Gluck.

According to the Associated Press, the Haitian government has said the 2010 earthquake killed 316,000 people and displaced 1.5 million. On January 12, 2012, the AP reported that more than 500,000 are still in temporary settlement camps.

“My fear is that they are not safe,” said Rene Mahfood, the event’s Honorary Chairperson while in Haiti. “They don’t have a house, and they don’t have a door to keep people out. That is what they need – they need a home. They need a place where they can feel safe, where they can go to school and where they can learn and grow.”

Food For The Poor can build a permanent houses with a latrine for just $3,200. Food For The Poor homes are built with a strong corrugated zinc roof, a solid concrete foundation, cement block walls, windows for ventilation and a front door that can be locked.

Additional committee members include Cathy and Abdol Moabery (Event Co-Chairpersons), David Gluck (Event Co-Chairperson), Francis Mahfood (Honorary Chairperson), Becky Carlsson, Ronda Ellis Ged, Michele Greene, Julie Mahfood, Pamela Matsil, Kara Seelye, Natasha Singh, Allison Venditti, Patricia Wallace, and Traci Wilson.

The Building Hope Gala committee members invite you to join them on May 3 at Arrigo Fiat of West Palm Beach at 7:30 p.m. as they pull the winning raffle ticket for a Gucci Fiat 500C 2-door black automatic convertible. Raffle tickets, starting at $50, can be purchased through the charity’s secure website www.FoodForThePoor.org/fiat. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the car is $28,200. The Gucci Fiat 500C raffle sales will be used to continue building in Haiti.

This year’s committee devised a unique way to inspire gala attendees to contribute toward making a difference in the lives of others. For a donation, 100 guests pulled a playing card to see what they would win. Each card represented a unique gift. The grand prize was a pair of beautiful diamond earrings donated by Gregory’s Fine Jewelry in Boca Raton. Gregory’s Fine Jewelry also donated gift certificates for each bag.

Media master of ceremonies was Calvin Hughes, an Emmy Award-winning newscaster for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 News. For years, he has reported how nonprofits such as Food For The Poor continue to improve lives and living conditions throughout the world.

Event sponsors include Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Arrigo Fiat of West Palm Beach, Allison and Peter Venditti, TD Bank, N.A., Regal Home Health, Premier Aircraft Sales, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Jeffrey and Agnes Stoops, Dennis Charley & Associates, Quadriga Art. Inc, Haiti Shipping Lines, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami, Seaboard Marine Ltd., Dusco Doors, The Pereira Family, Bernuth Agencies, Inc., United Healthcare, Boca Home Care Services, Comerica Bank, The Ross Group of UBS, Mailing Service of Pittsburg, and Jox Sox.

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/boca.

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

Palm Beach County students organize a benefit concert for Nicaragua

Embarking on a new way to involve South Florida’s youth in philanthropy, Atlantic Community High School junior Samantha Kerker collaborated with students and faculty members at six Palm Beach County high schools to present a benefit concert Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, at Mizner Park Amphitheater, in Boca Raton. Proceeds from this evening of music will build a Food For The Poor school in Chinandega, Nicaragua.

“By all of the students coming together in these Students For The Poor chapters, it has given us the strength and power to really impact a plethora of students lives,” said Samantha. “This school in Nicaragua will benefit hundreds of students, and will allow them to have a proper education. With more students getting a proper education, the generations will become stronger and wiser, and will eventually overcome their developing country status.”

Performers to include The Kinected (Pop Music), Kasper featuring Syxx Ent (Hip Hop/Rap), Amanda (Pianist, singing Adele songs), and Siren (Rock Band). Participating Students For The Poor chapters include Atlantic Community High School, Suncoast Community High School, A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Palm Beach Central High School, Boca Raton Community High School, and West Boca Raton Community High School.

For additional information regarding benefit concert sponsorship levels, and tickets, available at $20 per person, please contact Monique Shaw by calling 1-877-654-2960 ext. 6069 or by emailing moniques@foodforthepoor.com. Information about how you can start a Students For The Poor chapter at your school is also available by request.

Samantha’s idea to start Students For The Poor chapters in Palm Beach County was inspired by the questions her peers asked about her Food For The Poor mission trip to Nicaragua. She found the travel experience to a developing country to be so unlike her experiences in the United States.

“The poorest children in our neighborhoods would be considered the fortunate students compared to the children living in a developing country,” said Samantha, who tie-dyed her way to building her first Food For The Poor home for a destitute Nicaraguan family in December 2010. “Here in America, we have a government structure with many resources to aid the poor. In a developing country, there are little to no opportunities for the poor. The students participating in Students For The Poor clubs have come together to help those less fortunate students abroad.”

Students For The Poor is a unique student outreach effort initiated by students and developed by Food For The Poor. Students For The Poor is an organized outreach group on high school and college campuses throughout the United States in which students take time from their busy lives to serve the poor in their local communities, the Caribbean and Latin America.

To support the students’ building initiative, tax-deductible donations can be made through the charity’s secure website at www.FoodForThePoor.org/students. 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# 77575” to accurately route your donation to the school-building effort.

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/students.

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

Grammy award-winning reggae star, Shaggy, shines light on Haiti’s housing needs

The 2012 Grammy nominee and award-winning reggae artist, Shaggy, has partnered with the South Florida based-nonprofit Food For The Poor to help build homes in Haiti. Shaggy is scheduled to perform at Food For The Poor’s annual Building Hope Gala on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton.

Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses during the charity’s live house-rally. For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, sponsorship levels, and tickets, available at $225 per person, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

Shaggy won a Grammy for his album “Boombastic,” and was nominated for “It Wasn’t Me,” “Clothes Drop,” “Intoxication,” and “Hotshot.” Shaggy won Billboard’s Male Artist of the Year and Male Album Artist of the Year in 2001 and was nominated at the 2002 American Music Awards as the Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist, Rap/Hip-Hop Artist and International Artist of the year. Shaggy has sold over 20 million albums to date and has had seven number one albums. Shaggy has also had eight number one hit singles with “Boombastic,“ “In the Summertime,” “Angel,” “It Wasn’t Me,” “Church Heathen,” “Bonafide Girl,” “Feel the Rush,” and “Sugarcane.” Currently, Shaggy is a 2012 Grammy nominee for his new album “Summer in Kingston.”

Although tremendously successful in his business ventures and his music, Shaggy has always lived on the premise that “to whom much is given, much is required.” With this belief, Shaggy has also taken on the role of philanthropist.

Similarly, in November, seven committee members from the Boca Raton/Lighthouse Point communities left the comfort of their homes to travel to Haiti with Food For The Poor. While in-country, the committee members decided this year’s Building Hope Gala goal would be to raise enough money to construct 100 housing units, a community center, and to initiate an animal husbandry project to include 20 cows in Olivier, Deuxieme Plaine, Haiti.

“It was a very sad day, but a great experience – a life adjusting experience,” said Rene Mahfood, the event’s Honorary Chairperson, after her first day in Haiti. “What we saw today puts everything in perspective. You think about how expensive life is back home and all the things you can’t afford. Then you realize that all those material things don’t matter. None of it matters. All that matters is having a roof over your head, being able to clothe your children and having food to eat.”

Committee members include Cathy and Abdol Moabery (Event Co-Chairpersons), Ronda and David Gluck (Event Co-Chairpersons), Rene and Francis Mahfood (Honorary Chairpersons), Becky Carlsson, Ronda Ellis Ged, Michele Greene, Julie Mahfood, Pamela Matsil, Kara Seelye, Natasha Singh, Allison Venditti, Patricia Wallace, and Traci Wilson.

Media master of ceremonies will be Calvin Hughes, an Emmy Award-winning newscaster for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 News. For years, he has reported how nonprofits such as Food For The Poor continue to improve lives and living conditions throughout the world.

Event sponsors include Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Arrigo Fiat of West Palm Beach, TD Bank, N.A., Regal Home Health, Premier Aircraft Sales, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Jeffrey and Agnes Stoops, Dennis Charley & Associates, Quadriga Art. Inc, Haiti Shipping Lines, Seaboard Marine Ltd., Dusco Doors, The Pereira Family, Bernuth Agencies, Inc., United Healthcare, Boca Home Care Services, Comerica Bank, The Ross Group of UBS, Mailing Service of Pittsburg, and Jox Sox.

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

Thousands of meals are heading to Haiti, thanks to Lynn University

More than 200 students, staff and volunteers packed Green Hall on the campus of Lynn University on the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. They were not there to mourn, but to participate in a food packing event to help feed families still recovering from the 2010 natural disaster.

The precious cargo – white rice, lentils, dried carrot, onion, tomato, celery, cabbage, bell pepper and a dash of Himalayan sea salt – was vacuum-sealed on the Boca Raton campus and packed into 120 boxes. Each box contains 48 bags of the dried ingredients, and each bag equals six meals or 288 meals per box, a total of 34,560 meals. All of the boxes were then signed with loving words of encouragement, loaded onto a truck and delivered to Food For The Poor’s warehouse in Coconut Creek.

“The students at Lynn University are so full of energy, we’re so grateful to them and to our donors with Feeding Children Everywhere for their gift, which will feed hundreds of families in Haiti,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Higher food prices are challenging our ability to feed the number of hungry we need to reach, so we’re very grateful for this donation.”

This is the second year Lynn University has partnered with the Orlando-based food pack charity, and donated those meals to Food For The Poor. The critically needed food will be shipped to Haiti by the end of the month.

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

Boca committee members committed to Building Hope in Haiti

One way South Floridians can keep Haiti on the radar and continue to help the rebuilding progress is to attend Food For The Poor’s annual Building Hope Gala on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton.

In November, seven committee members from the Boca Raton/Lighthouse Point communities traveled to Haiti with Food For The Poor. While in-country, the committee members decided this year’s Building Hope Gala goal would be to raise enough money to construct 100 housing units, a community center, and to initiate an animal husbandry project to include 20 cows in Olivier, Deuxieme Plaine, Haiti.

“It was a very sad day, but a great experience – a life adjusting experience,” said Rene Mahfood, the event’s Honorary Chairperson after her first day in Haiti. “What we saw today puts everything in perspective. You think about how expensive life is back home and all the things you can’t afford. Then you realize that all those material things don’t matter. None of it matters. All that matters is having a roof over your head, being able to clothe your children and having food to eat.”

Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses during the charity’s live house-rally. For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, sponsorship levels, and tickets, available at $225 per person, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

“We’re blessed,” said Ronda Gluck, Event Co-Chairperson, after she visited a family in Cité Soleil who will soon receive a new Food For The Poor house. “We have no idea the luxuries we live in, compared to this house. I feel terrible. These families are blessed to be receiving a home.”

Travelers included Ronda Gluck, Rene Mahfood, Becky Carlsson, Julie Mahfood, Allison Venditti, Traci Wilson, and Kara Seelye.

Additional committee members include Cathy & Abdol Moabery (Event Co-Chairpersons), David Gluck (Event Co-Chairperson), Francis Mahfood (Honorary Chairperson), Ronda Ellis Ged, Michele Greene, Pamela Matsil, Natasha Singh, and Patricia Wallace.

“Hundreds of thousands of displaced Haitians have been forced to live under tarps and tents for almost two years,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s President/CEO, who traveled with members of the Boca committee. “As a result of these inhumane living conditions, the spread of disease and waterborne illnesses have thrived, causing even more devastation.”

Media master of ceremonies will be Calvin Hughes, an Emmy Award-winning newscaster for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 News. For years, he has reported how nonprofits such as Food For The Poor continue to improve lives and living conditions throughout the country.

Event sponsors include Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Arrigo Fiat of West Palm Beach, TD Bank, N.A., Regal Home Health, Premier Aircraft Sales, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Jeffery and Agnes Stoops, Dennis Charley & Associates, Quadriga Art. Inc, Haiti Shipping Lines, Seaboard Marine Ltd., Dusco Doors, The Pereira Family, Bernuth Agencies, Boca Home Care Services, Comerica Bank, The Ross Group of UBS, Mailing Service of Pittsburg, and Jox Sox.

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

Boca committee members open their hearts to Haiti

To kick-start the much anticipated 17th annual Food For The Poor Building Hope Gala, seven committee members from the Boca Raton/Lighthouse Point communities traveled to Haiti Nov. 7-9 with the South Florida-based nonprofit. The committee members traveled as ambassadors to witness first-hand the condition of the people and to learn how the nonprofit continues to improve their lives and living conditions.

“It was a very sad day, but a great experience – a life adjusting experience,” said Rene Mahfood, the event’s Honorary Chairperson after her first day in Haiti. “What we saw today puts everything in perspective. You think about how expensive life is back home and all the things you can’t afford. Then you realize that all those material things don’t matter. None of it matters. All that matters is having a roof over your head, being able to clothe your children and having food to eat.”

The gala will be Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton. Attendees will be invited to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses during the charity’s live house-rally. Last year’s energized crowd pledged to construct a record 60 housing units – to restore hope and to shelter the destitute in the Caribbean and Latin America. This year more than 350 caring South Florida residents are expected to attend.

“We’re blessed,” said Ronda Gluck, Event Co-Chairperson, after she visited a family in Cité Soleil who will soon receive a new Food For The Poor house. “We have no idea the luxuries we live in, compared to this house. It’s nothing. I feel terrible. These families are blessed to be receiving a home.”

“I don’t believe these people live in the same world that I do – only a two hour plane ride away,” said Kara Seelye, an event committee member. “It’s disturbing. You just don’t get it when you’re a Boca housewife. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. The only way we can build more houses for people is by sharing what we’ve seen. More people need to come and see it for themselves.”

Proceeds from this year’s Building Hope Gala will fund the construction of homes in Haiti. According to the United Nations’ shelter committee the catastrophic 2010 earthquake initially left 1.3 million people in Haiti homeless. Today approximately 600,000 are still without shelter. More than 2,400 two-room permanent homes have been built by Food For The Poor in Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake.

“It’s important for these people to experience poverty first hand,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s President/CEO, who traveled with members of the Boca committee. “To see it, smell it and taste it. Then they know what they are raising money for, and how to do it – to help one family at a time.”

Travelers included Ronda Gluck, Rene Mahfood, Becky Carlsson, Julie Mahfood, Allison Venditti, Traci Wilson, and Kara Seelye.

Additional committee members include Cathy & Abdol Moabery (Event Co-Chairpersons), David Gluck (Event Co-Chairperson), Francis Mahfood (Honorary Chairperson), Ronda Ellis Ged, Michele Greene, Pamela Matsil,
Natasha Singh, and Patricia Wallace.

“Since Haiti’s Jan. 12 earthquake, the need for safe, permanent housing remains tremendous, said Mahfood. “Hundreds of thousands of displaced Haitians have been forced to live under tarps and tents for almost two years. As a result of these inhumane living conditions, the spread of disease and waterborne illnesses have thrived, causing even more devastation.”

Media master of ceremonies, Calvin Hughes, an Emmy Award-winning newscaster for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 News, will share stories from his journeys to Haiti at the event. For years he has reported how nonprofits such as Food For The Poor continue to strive to improve lives and living conditions throughout the country.

For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, benefactor levels, and tickets, available at $225 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

The Building Hope Gala committee has organized a pre-event on Dec. 15, in time for the holiday season. Join the committee for champagne and hors d’oeuvres at Gregory’s Fine Jewelry in Delray Beach’s The Addison Shops to purchase a dazzling piece of jewelry for your loved ones. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the charity’s gala.

Event sponsors include Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, TD Bank, N.A., Regal Home Health, Haiti Shipping Lines, Seaboard Marine Ltd., Dennis Charley & Associates, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Mailing Service of Pittsburg, and Jox Sox.

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

Building Hope Gala’s House Rally Sets Record of 60 Housing Units

More than 350 compassionate South Florida residents attended Food For The Poor’s sold-out Building Hope Gala on Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Boca West Country Club. As the gala’s names implies, attendees gathered to create a legacy by pledging to build critically needed houses during the charity’s live house-rally. This year, the energized crowd pledged to construct a record 60 housing units – to restore hope and to shelter the destitute in the Caribbean and Latin America.

“Imagine being afraid of the very structure that serves as your home,” said Robin Mahfood, CEO/President of Food For The Poor. “No one can fight poverty alone. Together, we can continue to improve the conditions of endangered communities, one family at a time.”

Food For The Poor can build a simple housing unit with a latrine for $3,200. Food For The Poor homes are built with a strong corrugated zinc roof, a solid concrete foundation, cement block walls, windows for ventilation and a front door that can be locked.

At the helm, event co-chairpersons, Cathy and Abdol Moabery and Rene and Francis Mahfood, steered a new course for Food For The Poor’s 16th annual Building Hope Gala. Committee members included Ronda Gluck, Julie Mahfood, Pamela Matsil, Natasha Singh, Patricia Wallace and Traci Wilson.

The event’s elegant cocktail reception and exclusive silent auction began with the sounds of saxophonist, Leo Casino. Bidding on silent auction prizes offered opportunities for guests to donate to the cause at the same time. Prizes included exclusive art and collectibles from the Caribbean and Latin America, designer jewelry, luxury vacations, and golf and dining packages. The Building Hope Gala offered a full night of exceptional dining, dancing and inspirational moments.

“We are blessed to live in this country while in other parts of the world a Food For The Poor home provides a secure, dry and potentially warm place to sleep at night,” said Cathy Moabery. “It is our hope that receiving a Food For The Poor home will give them the will and determination to build stronger family units, while also building on their dreams.”

The event co-chairpersons and committee members devised a unique way to inspire gala attendees to contribute toward making a difference in the lives of others. For a donation, 50 guests purchased a starfish to see what they would win. Each starfish represented a unique gift. The grand prize was a pair of beautiful diamond earrings donated by Gregory’s Fine Jewelry in Boca Raton. Gregory’s Fine jewelry also donated necklaces and gift certificates for prizes.

Master of ceremonies, Calvin Hughes, an Emmy Award-winning newscaster for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 News, shared stories from his personal journeys to Haiti where he reported how nonprofits such as Food For The Poor continue to strive to improve lives and living conditions throughout the country.

“What a small price to pay, to give someone the joy of having a place to call home; a place where they can have hope and, most importantly, a place where families can dream,” said Rene Mahfood.

Event sponsors included Aljoma Lumber, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Bernuth Agencies, Inc., Dennis Charley & Associates, Inc., Dusco Doors, Gregory’s Fine Jewelry, Haiti Shipping Lines, Japs-Olson Company, McFFe Group, MSP, The Pereira Family, Quadriga Art, Inc., SEACOR Holdings Inc., Seaboard Marine Ltd., Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami (Taiwan), TD Bank, N.A., United Healthcare, and VITAS Innovative Hospice Care.

For information regarding next year’s Building Hope Gala please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit the event page.

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the United States, 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
Public Relations
(954) 427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com

Carnival-Themed Fundraiser Helps to Build a Home in Trinidad

When most people think of Trinidad, located at the southern end of the Caribbean chain of islands, images of people draped in exotic colored costumes parading down the street to pulsating rhythms often comes to mind. Trinidad is also a country peppered with mountains and tranquil beaches. But like many of the other islands in the West Indies, the gap between rich and poor can be wide.

South Florida teen Shannon Weisz is no stranger to the island; her mother, Blanche, was born there and Shannon has traveled there many times. But it was something the 17-year-old saw in August that prompted her to action.

“I’ve been traveling to Trinidad since I was 8 years old,” said Weisz. “But when I went to my cousin’s wedding this last trip, I had some down time, so I ventured out. I saw the condition of the houses some of the people were living in. I love the people of Trinidad and Tobago and I was compelled to do something because everyone deserves to have a decent roof over their head.”

While in Trinidad, Weisz volunteered with Living Water Community, a Catholic Lay Ecclesial Community in Port of Spain. It was there through a chain of events that she learned about Food For The Poor and the charity’s home building projects. Food For The Poor has been serving in Trinidad for 19 years and has built homes there since 2005.

When Weisz returned to her Boca Raton residence, she met with her parents and shared her idea for a fundraiser with her older sister and two younger brothers. Since carnival has become synonymous with Trinidad, which was brought to the island by French settlers in the late 18th century, it was no surprise the spunky Cardinal Gibbons High School Senior decided on a carnival theme for her Nov. 13 fundraiser at Bayview Park located in Fort Lauderdale.

Weisz says about 300 people attended the game-filled fundraiser and 30 volunteers helped her to raise money to build a house in Trinidad. The teen presented Food For The Poor’s President/CEO Robin Mahfood with a check at the charity’s headquarters in Coconut Creek.

“We are blessed and humbled by the philanthropic spirit of many of our young people today. Food For The Poor provides a number of services to millions throughout the Caribbean. Some islands need more help than others, but in the end sustainable housing for as many people as possible is a top priority. Shannon’s donation will soon provide a home for a family in Trinidad,” said Mahfood.

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.

Walkers Nationwide Encouraged to Stomp Out Hunger

Food For The Poor’s fifth annual "Walk For Hunger," a three-mile walk/run on Lynn University’s campus in Boca Raton is quickly approaching. Do your part on Oct. 2 to feed starving children and their families in Haiti, while raising awareness about the plight of the poor in that country through Food For The Poor, one of the most efficient charities in the United States.

Humanitarians nationwide are invited to register online to walk with us in person or participate from afar in your own community, as we lace up our sneakers to feed those who are unable to feed themselves in Haiti. With your support, we can focus attention on Haiti’s deadly malnutrition problem that has been magnified by the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

This year’s top fundraiser will receive an Apple iPad – second through fifth place winners will receive free Apple iPod nanos. If you do not live in Florida, you can still participate and spread the word through Food For The Poor’s Facebook event page.

Visit the Walk For Hunger web page to register, start a team, encourage your friends, or make a donation. Utilize the “Participant Center” online to create a fundraising page, share your goal with friends, family coworkers and all contacts, while you monitor your progress. Corporate teams to participate in Food For The Poor’s walk/run range from major league baseball team, the Florida Marlins, to environmentally minded organizations, such as South Florida Waste Management District.

Cost of pre-registration is $20 for adults and teens, $15 for children ages 6-10, and no fee for children 5 years old and under. The registration cost for South Florida walkers includes a T-Shirt and lunch. Special awards will be given to the teams and individuals who raise the largest amount of pledges. For more information, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit the Walk For Hunger online.

Food For The Poor can feed 10 families for $120 a month. The goal this year is to raise enough to feed 4,000 destitute families for a month in Haiti. Students countrywide in need of community service hours are encouraged to participate.

For the event, Lynn University students will help build a pre-fabricated 12-by-12 foot yellow house on the university’s lawn near the student center. The house is a smaller model of the 61,200 homes Food For The Poor has built and given to destitute families since 1982.

Sponsors this year include Lynn University, Wells Fargo, Whole Foods Market, Melting Pot, 620 Subs, and Winners Award Group.

Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed the 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. To learn more, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.