Palm Beach philanthropists continue building in Gordon’s Village

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 30) – Palm Beach philanthropists Patrick Park (Grand Honorary Chair), Arlette Gordon and Elizabeth Bowden (Honorary Chairs), thanked attendees at Food For The Poor’s 10th annual  Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures gala for their continued support. Proceeds from the Jan. 24 gala at The Mar-a-Lago Club will fund the renovation of the Bluefields Health Centre in Gordon’s Village in Bluefields, Jamaica.

“Thank you on Bob’s behalf,” said Arlette. “This was my late husband’s favorite charity – he appreciated the fact that Food For The Poor is a good steward with donations, and that more than 96 percent of all donations go directly to programs that help the poor.”

Park responded by saying, “This memorable evening with friends reminds us of our many blessings and inspires us to help the underprivileged in the Caribbean and Latin America who are in desperate need of assistance.

The Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures gala opened with a superb wine tasting reception of selected wines sponsored by Dreyfus, Ashby & Co. and Republic National Distributing Company. Unique wine selections, jewelry and exotic escapes to such places as Hong Kong were among the varied prizes in the silent and live auctions. The evening culminated with a four-course gourmet dinner and wine pairing.

Louis Jadot Moulin-a-Vent Gamay 2012, a Burgundy from France, was selected to complement the first course of English Pea Risotto with Parmesan and Blistered Tomatoes. The second course of Duck Confit Crepes with Rum Raisin Syrup was served with Torres Vina Esmeralda Moscatel 2011 from Penedes, Spain. Ratti Barbera d’Alba from Italy was served with the Veal Chop stuffed with Apple and Brie entrée. Fonseca Porto Bin 27 from Portugal complemented the trio of cheeses with sweet jams, honey and fruit.

Additional committee members include Mary Frances Turner (Ladies’ Committee Chair), Russell Sherrill (Gentlemen’s Committee Chair), Michael Dixon, Henry and Mary Virginia Fong, Emilio Guerra, and Brownie McLean.

Jenna Wolfe, co-anchor of NBC Weekend TODAY, served as master of ceremonies for Food For The Poor’s Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures gala.

Wolfe’s participation is especially meaningful because she was born in Kingston, Jamaica and has seen the country’s poverty firsthand. The proceeds from the gala will fund the expansion and renovation of the Bluefields Health Centre. On a daily basis, the staff of the health care facility struggles to provide basic medical care to their patients, including pregnant mothers and sick children. 

The Palm Beach community has worked to transform Gordon’s Village in Bluefields, Jamaica, since 2007 by establishing a self-sustaining fishing village and development projects in the community. The project, named in honor of Robert G. Gordon, replaced dilapidated shacks with more than 125 safe, permanent houses, constructed a school for 80 children, built a fish processing facility and provided residents with access to water and sanitation.

In addition to Food For The Poor’s international mission, the organization also supports nonprofits that serve South Florida’s neediest.

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.

Patrick Park to join Arlette Gordon and Elizabeth Bowden as the 2013 Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures chairmen

Food For The Poor’s 10th annual Palm Beach Gala, Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures will be Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, at The Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach. The annual event is chaired by distinguished Palm Beach philanthropists Patrick Park (Grand Honorary Chair), Arlette Gordon and Elizabeth Bowden (Honorary Chairs), Herme de Wyman Miro (International Chair), Mary Frances Turner (Ladies Committee Chair) and Russell Sherrill (Men’s Committee Chair).

The Palm Beach community has worked to transform Gordon’s Village in Bluefields, Jamaica, since 2007. Proceeds from the 2013 Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures Gala will fund the expansion and renovation of Bluefields Health Centre. The clinic serves 25,000 residents with preventive and basic medical services, including pre- and post-natal care and pediatric care.

“Current clinic conditions are severely cramped and inadequate,” said Susan James, Food For The Poor’s Jamaica Country Manager. “Due to overcrowding in the waiting room, patients needing treatment, including pregnant mothers and sick children, often have to sit outside on the ground. With much needed renovation and expansion, the staff will be better equipped to provide medical service and patient care to those in the community.” 

In November, construction on the school named in Robert G. Gordon’s memory, near Gordon’s Village, will be completed. The school will serve approximately 100 disadvantaged children, and was funded with proceeds from the 2012 Palm Beach gala.

The Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures Gala opens with a superb wine tasting reception of selected wines sponsored by Dreyfus, Ashby & Co. Unique wine selections, jewelry and exotic escapes to such places as Hong Kong are among the varied prizes in the silent and live auctions. The evening culminates with a 4-course gourmet dinner and wine pairing.

For additional information regarding the Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures event, tickets, sponsorship and benefactor levels, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/palmbeach.

Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures 2013 committee members also include Franklyn de Marco, Michael Dixon, Henry and Mary Virginia Fong, Karen Mason, and Renee Smith.

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

Compassionate Palm Beach Philanthropists Unite to Build Homes

Palm Beach philanthropists Robert G. and Arlette Gordon (Grand Honorary Chairpersons) joined Elizabeth Bowden (Gala Chairwoman) and Paul Marino (Event Chairman) on stage at Food For The Poor’s eighth-annual Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures gala on Jan. 30 at The Breakers, Palm Beach.

Food For The Poor’s gala began with a superb wine tasting reception with selected wines compliments of Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., and Republic National Distributing Company. Throughout the reception, unique wine selections, jewelry and exotic escapes were among the varied silent and live auction prizes.

Once in the ballroom Arlette Gordon thanked Patrick Park and Nathalie Fernandez for graciously committing to be the charity’s platinum benefactors. She then mentioned Silver and Gala benefactors by name, thanking them individually for their support to build critically needed homes in developing countries.

Silver benefactors include Elizabeth Bowden, Florence DeGeorge, Robert G. and Arlette Gordon, and Howard and Michele Kessler. Gala benefactors include Helen Bernstein, Stanley and Helene Karp, Charlotte Kimelman, Henry Fong and Mary Virginia Knight, Anneliese Langner, Hermé de Wyman Miro – The International Society of Palm Beach, Patty Myura – Eleanor Reeves Foundation, and Ari Rifkin.

After Arlette Gordon briefly reminisced on their friendship and travel excursions, Bowden attributed her becoming a supporter of Food For The Poor to Arlette Gordon.

“Living on this beautiful island, it is hard to imagine the horrific living conditions that exist in Haiti,” said Bowden. “More than a million Haitians were displaced immediately following the earthquake, and they struggle daily to find food, safe drinking water and shelter. By supporting Food For The Poor’s “Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures” gala, you, too, can help provide permanent housing for those who have nowhere to call home.”

The Breakers Executive Chef Jeff Simms described the five-course menu that featured each of The Breakers’ restaurants, and mentioned the specially selected fine wines that were chosen to enhance each course. Robert Gordon’s epicurean reputation is known throughout Palm Beach, and for many years he has been recognized as one of the area’s most generous philanthropists and past Bailli-Confrérie de las Chaines des Rôtisseurs.

“Food For The Poor is one of those charities that does not just send money,” said Robert Gordon. “They make sure the supplies reach those who need them the most. Food For The Poor is a good steward with donations – more than 96 percent of all donations go directly to programs that help the poor.”

Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director, began by thanking the Gordons, Elizabeth Bowden and Paul Marino for all they have done through the years to introduce Food The Poor to the Palm Beach community.

Aloma recalled how a few days before last year’s event he returned from the devastated country of Haiti. As of December 2010, he said Food For The Poor had shipped 1,465 tractor-trailer loads of food, water, medicines and other lifesaving relief aid valued at $205 million to Haiti. More than 1,589 permanent two-room homes with sanitation units and access to water have also been built to house displaced earthquake victims. Members of the crowd applauded when Aloma said the $20.7 million dollars collected as Haiti emergency earthquake relief funds by Food For The Poor had been spent by the end of October 2010.

Then Aloma introduced Ray Mou, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami (Taiwan), the gala’s Grand Benefactor. He described Mou as a wonderful man and poet.

“Half a century ago, between 1949 and 1965, Taiwan received nearly a $1.5 billion loan and grant from the United States to reconstruct its economy after World War II,” said Mou. “Now, as the twenty-fourth largest economy in the world we are no longer a recipient state. We actively lend a helping hand to people in need. The ultimate purpose of our humanitarian diplomacy is to promote humanity and to ask for nothing back in return. We wish we could do more to help the Global Village.”

Mou said the Taiwanese did not hesitate to help following the earthquake in Haiti. Joint initiatives between Taiwan ICDF and Food For The Poor include feeding the destitute, and the in-country production of food through agriculture, farm-raised fish and livestock breeding – self-sustainable initiatives that teach people how to earn a living. In 2010, Taiwan ICDF donated 1,250 tons of rice to Food For The Poor.

During the live auction, Curt Fonger, master of ceremonies and CBS WPEC Channel 12’s weeknight anchor, rallied the crowd in support of Food For The Poor’s mission. Auction prizes included exotic vacation destinations such as Hong Kong and Montego Bay, Jamaica. The third item to be auctioned was one of Oprah Winfrey’s Favorite Things. A donor gave the Philip Stein, diamond-bezel watch to Food For The Poor, so monies raised could assist with the charity’s house building effort.

Earlier in the evening, Aloma thanked attendees for their gift of presence, telling the audience that every dance helps to wipe away tears; every course helps bring back people on the verge of despair; and every sip of wine gives people back the ability to dream. The performances by La Mystique enthralled guests and filled the dance floor.

Gala sponsors included American Nicaraguan Foundation, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., Russ Reid Company, Republic National Distributing Company, and TerraGroup.

For additional information regarding the Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures event, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit the event page online.

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. We provide 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
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com

Palm Beach Philanthropists Support Food For The Poor’s Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures gala

Food For The Poor’s eighth annual Palm Beach gala, Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures will be held Sunday, January 30, 2011, at The Breakers, Palm Beach. The annual event is chaired by distinguished Palm Beach philanthropists Robert G. and Arlette Gordon (Grand Honorary Chairpersons), Elizabeth Bowden (Gala Chairwoman), and Paul Marino (Event Chairman).

With a passion for both culinary achievement and charitable giving, Grand Honorary Chairpersons Robert and Arlette Gordon and Gala Chairwoman Elizabeth Bowden, invite you to become involved in this philanthropic cause and transform lives of poverty and suffering into ones filled with hope and thanksgiving. Proceeds will be used to build desperately needed homes for destitute families in developing countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

Food For The Poor’s gala will begin with a superb wine tasting reception with selected wines compliments of Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., and Republic National Distributing Company. Throughout the reception, unique wine selections, jewelry and exotic escapes are among the varied silent and live auction prizes. Specially selected fine wines will be chosen to enhance each course and to highlight the executive chefs and restaurants of The Breakers. Additionally, Broadway-inspired performances by La Mystique are certain to enthrall guests.

Patrick Park and Nathalie Fernandez have graciously committed to be the charity’s platinum benefactors. Silver benefactors include Elizabeth Bowden, Florence DeGeorge, Robert and Arlette Gordon, and Howard and Michele Kessler. Gala benefactors include Helen Bernstein, Stanley and Helene Karp, Henry Fong and Mary Virginia Knight, Anneliese Langner, Hermé de Wyman Miro – The International Society of Palm Beach, and Ari Rifkin.

Ray Mou, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami (Taiwan), has been named the gala’s Grand Benefactor. Joint initiatives between Taiwan ICDF and Food For The Poor include feeding the destitute, and the in-country production of food through agriculture, farm-raised fish and livestock breeding – self-sustainable initiatives that teach people how to earn a living.

Gala sponsors to include American Nicaraguan Foundation, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., Russ Reid Company, Republic National Distributing Company, and TerraGroup.

Master of ceremonies for Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures is CBS WPEC Channel 12’s weeknight anchor Curt Fonger. Fonger is an avid philanthropist, who has supported Food For The Poor’s mission for many years. Immediately following the Jan. 12 earthquake Fonger reached out to Food For The Poor to ask how he and the Palm Beach community could help the people of Haiti.

For additional information regarding the Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures event, benefactor levels, and tickets, available at $450 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.foodforthepoor.org/palmbeach.

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. We provide 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.

Palm Beach Philanthropists Prepare for FFP gala

Food For The Poor’s eighth annual Palm Beach gala, Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures will be held Sunday, January 30, 2011, at The Breakers, Palm Beach. The annual event is chaired by distinguished Palm Beach philanthropists Robert G. and Arlette Gordon (Grand Honorary Chairpersons), and Elizabeth Bowden (Gala Chairwoman).

With a passion for both culinary achievement and charitable giving, Grand Honorary Chairpersons Robert and Arlette Gordon and Gala Chairwoman Elizabeth Bowden, invite you to become involved in this philanthropic cause and transform lives of poverty and suffering into ones filled with hope and thanksgiving.

Food For The Poor’s gala will begin with a superb wine tasting reception with selected wines compliments of Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., and Republic National Distributing Company. Throughout the reception, unique wine selections, jewelry and exotic escapes are among the varied silent and live auction prizes. Specially selected fine wines will be chosen to highlight each course prepared by the executive chefs of The Breakers. Additionally, Broadway-inspired performances by La Mystique are certain to enthrall guests.

Early event benefactors include Helen Bernstein, Elizabeth Bowden, Florence DeGeorge, Robert and Arlette Gordon, International Society of Palm Beach, Stanley and Helene Karp, Howard and Michele Kessler, and Henry Fong and Mary Virginia Knight. Gala sponsors to include American Nicaraguan Foundation, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., Russ Reid Company, and Republic National Distributing Company.

For additional information regarding the Fine Wines & Hidden Treasures event, benefactor levels, and tickets, available at $450 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.foodforthepoor.org/palmbeach.

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. We provide 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.