Deadly prison fire highlights need for Food For The Poor prison ministry – nonviolent offenders to be freed

Food For The Poor will release nonviolent offenders in the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Jamaica in time to spend Easter Holy Week with their families. These prisoners were incarcerated due to their inability to pay the required fines, even though the amounts in some cases are minimal. Sometimes by the time they are tried, they have spent years longer in jail than their prison sentence requires.

Since the inception of Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program in 1998, Food For The Poor has assisted in freeing, training and reintroducing prisoners back into the community as productive citizens.

“Prison conditions and poverty are drastically worse in developing countries than they are in the United States,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Overcrowded prisons are common, and perpetuate the spread of disease and violence. Through Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry program, we want to help nonviolent offenders make a fresh start.”

Factors cited in the recent Honduras prison fire were severe overcrowding and an unstable environment. Prisoners were reported to be suffering from malnutrition and a lack of adequate sanitation. It has also been reported that inmates with mental illnesses, as well as those with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, are routinely held among the general prison population. Similarly, the potential spread of cholera in Haiti prisons remains a concern.

Most of the 358 inmates who were burned alive in February’s fire at the Comayagua prison in Honduras had never been charged or convicted, according to reports from The Associated Press.

“This case is neither the only one nor the first in the world,” said Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and a member of Food For The Poor’s Board of Directors. “The humane care of prisoners is the most revealing social indicator that can describe a complete society. By promoting the process of pardons, and the acceleration of trials, prisons can be less crowded and transform detainees into good citizens.”
On March 2, thanks to the generosity of Food For The Poor donors, eight nonviolent offenders at Pastoral Penitenciaria in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, had their petty fines paid, so they could be reunited with their families.

Last month, Food For The Poor donors served warm meals to approximately 560 prisoners in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. The barracks were so congested, men were forced to sit in rows on the floor and hug their knees close to their chests - taking turns to stand, and stretch out their limbs.

Most of the nonviolent offenders to be released from prisons in Haiti were jailed because they stole food to feed their starving families. Last year, one man released during Easter’s Holy Week had been caught stealing food in the marketplace and had already served a two-month prison sentence because he was unable to pay the 75 cent fine.

The nonviolent offenders, renewed with hope, are led outside the prison gate. Food For The Poor representatives and partners pray with them for God’s forgiveness and blessing. Just prior to their release, they are fed a warm meal, given tools, a small stipend and groceries to take home to their families. Prison authorities have found Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program to be so successful that they have implemented a similar program themselves. Some prisons now offer inmates jobs in the prison where they are held so that they can earn money to pay off their fines.

Twice a year – the week of Christmas and during Easter’s Holy Week – the Food For The Poor Prison Ministry Program releases inmates who have committed minor offenses. The ministry is based on the scripture, “…I was in prison and you visited me,” (Matthew 25: 31-46).

To support Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program, checks payable to Food For The Poor can be mailed to 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, Fla. 33073. Please include reference number “SC# 74122” to ensure your donation is accurately routed.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

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

Food For The Poor organizes prisoner releases nonviolent offenders freed in Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti and Honduras

In anticipation of Christmas, Food For The Poor released prisoners who have committed nonviolent offenses in Jamaica (22), Guyana (25), Haiti (36) and Honduras (2). They were incarcerated due to their inability to pay required fines. Eighty-five prisoners have been released in these countries in time to spend Christmas with their families.

“When you visit a prison, desperate eyes peer out of the dark cells, into the light, pleading silently for help,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s CEO/President. “They want to feel a connection with the outside world, to be a brother in Christ, to be prayed for – and to not be forgotten.”

In developing countries, the destitute sometimes have no way to feed their families other than to steal food. The consequence often is imprisonment without first appearing before a judge, or receiving a prison sentence. Sometimes, by the time they are tried, they have spent years longer in jail than their prison sentence requires.

Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program is based on the scripture, “When was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you,” (Matthew 25: 31-46).

Mahfood visited a prison in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, this year with 17 priests and pastors. Together they prayed for the inmates, who live in decrepit buildings and are at the mercy of disease outbreaks, such as cholera. Prison cells measuring 16-by-16 feet sometimes hold more than 30 men.

Since the inception of Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program in 2000, more than 1,048 prisoners have been reintroduced back into the community as productive citizens. Food For The Poor works with the prisoners before and after they are released to ensure they will not be repeat offenders.

“Behave yourself, because in there [it is] rough,” said a 34-year-old former Jamaican inmate, when asked if he had any advice for youngsters outside of the penal institutions. “I appreciate the help from Food For The Poor,” he continued, “because my mother had been helping to take care of my children while I was in there, but they are my responsibility and I just wanted to come out and be a father to them.”

This year in Jamaica, a total of 22 inmates were released from prisons in Mandeville, Spanish Town and St. Catherine.

“All of us deserve a second chance and we have given these men and women that opportunity,” said Sandra Ramsay, administrator of the prison ministry at Food For The Poor-Jamaica.

Twice a year – during the Christmas and Easter seasons – the Food For The Poor Prison Ministry Program releases inmates who have committed minor offenses. Prison authorities have found Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program to be so successful that they have implemented a similar program themselves. Some prisons now offer inmates jobs in the prison where they are held so that they can earn money to pay off their fines.

Food For The Poor, the 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.

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

Easter inspires Food For The Poor to free prisoners, unite families

Since the inception of Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program in 1998, Food For The Poor has assisted in freeing, training and reintroducing prisoners back into the community as productive citizens.

Food For The Poor has released 85 nonviolent offenders in Guyana, Haiti and Jamaica in time to spend Holy Week with their families. These prisoners were incarcerated due to their inability to pay the required fines, even though the amounts are minimal. Sometimes by the time they are tried, they have spent years longer in jail than their prison sentence requires.

“Prison conditions and poverty are drastically worse in developing countries than they are in the United States,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Overcrowded prisons are common, and perpetuate the spread of disease and violence. Through Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry program, we want to help nonviolent offenders make a fresh start.”

In Guyana, it is customary for the nonviolent offenders to call Mahfood when they are released. The men thanked him for helping to rehabilitate them back into society and for restoring their dignity and freedom.

The first thing released prisoner, Andrew, 32, told Mahfood he planned to do was “to look for a job.” When released prisoner Ronald, 40, was asked if he would commit another crime his response was, “No boss. I don’t want to go back to prison.”

Mahfood closed the phone conversations, saying, “I am going to pray for you, and you pray for me.”

“All of them said that they have learned from their mistakes and promised to do better,” wrote Father Duken Augustin to Mahfood after 13 prisoners were released in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on Monday, April 18. “Together we praised the Lord for those who made their release happen.”

Most of the nonviolent offenders released in Haiti were jailed because they stole food to feed their starving families. One man caught stealing food in the marketplace had already served a two-month prison sentence because he was unable to pay the 75 cent fine.

“Words cannot adequately express our great thanks for what you are doing to bring the gospel to life for the least of His children,” wrote Mahfood, after seeing photos of Father Duken kneeling to wash the inmates’ feet before their release.

The Fresh Start Prison Ministry program has assisted in freeing, training, and reintroducing approximately 3,100 people into the community as productive citizens. According to records, approximately 20 of these individuals have returned to a prison in Jamaica and seven have died.

A recent study by the Pew Center concluded about 43 percent of prisoners in the United States who were let out in 2004 were sent back to prison by 2007. In contrast, Food For The Poor-Jamaica’s Fresh Start Prison Ministry program from 2003 to 2010 has less than a 3 percent recidivism rate.

Before the nonviolent offenders are led outside the prison gate renewed with hope, they are prayed with and for, fed a warm meal, given tools, a small stipend and food. Prison authorities have found Food For The Poor’s Prison Ministry Program to be so successful that they have implemented a similar program themselves. Some prisons now offer inmates jobs in the prison where they are held so that they can earn money to pay off their fines.

Twice a year – the week of Christmas and during Easter’s Holy Week – the Food For The Poor Prison Ministry Program releases inmates who have committed minor offenses. The ministry is based on the scripture, “I was in prison and you visited me,” (Matthew 25: 31-46).

Food For The Poor, the third-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 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 Oates
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
jennifero@foodforthepoor.com