Celebrating 33 Years of Service

Food For The Poor Celebrates 33 Years of Lovingly Serving the Poor

	In 2014, Food For The Poor contracted to build 33 schools. This little girl in Honduras is using one of the many computers donated to the organization. Since its inception, Food For The Poor has shipped more than 70,000 tractor-trailer loads of essential goods.
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2015) – Thanks to loyal support from a diverse group of donors, Food For The Poor will celebrate 33 years of devoted service to the poor on Thursday, Feb. 12.

Committed to helping one person at a time, one family at a time, Food For The Poor’s core life-transforming strategies are food, housing, water and education. With its offices in Jamaica, Haiti, and Guyana, the organization is helping people in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America to break the cycle of poverty.

“It’s very hard for many poor families to think about the future, when their primary focus is finding food, water and a safe place to sleep for the night. For more than three decades, this ministry has met many of those basic needs, but the goal of this organization is to provide families with an opportunity to become self-sustaining,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “With the help of our donors, Food For The Poor has implemented animal husbandry, agricultural and aquaculture projects, and provides technical training that is helping families to generate income and to care for their own.”

Food For The Poor started out as a feeding program in Jamaica in 1982 and is now ranked by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international charity in the United States. Through its dedicated donors, the charity has built more than 98,000 housing units, shipped more than 70,000 tractor-trailer loads filled with essential goods, completed more than 1,943 water projects, and has delivered nearly $11 billion in aid since its inception. 

Food For The Poor is also committed to helping the victims of the Haiti earthquake, which devastated the Caribbean country in January 2010. Since the tragedy in Haiti, the ministry has built 5,015 permanent two-room concrete block homes with water and sanitation components, drilled 372 water wells, which provide more than 1.1 million people with clean water each day and built or restored 35 schools in the Port-au-Prince area.

Food For The Poor is also building villages, community centers, and clinics for people in need. Click www.FoodForThePoor.org/tour to see how Food For The Poor is fulfilling its mission to save and to transform lives, while renewing hope.

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.

Celebrating service

Three Countries, Three Anniversaries All in One Month

	A girl at an orphanage in Guyana holds one of the chickens used in a self-sustaining development program.
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (June 18, 2014) – Food For The Poor is celebrating decades of dedicated service in the countries of Jamaica, Haiti and Guyana in the month of June. The organization, which was founded in 1982, now includes more than 5,000 churches and institutions as partners in the distribution of food, medicine, educational supplies and other needed items.

Thirty-two years ago today, Jamaica became the first country to receive assistance from the relief and development organization. The Food For The Poor-Jamaica office and warehouse complex are located in Spanish Town at the intersection of five highways, which lead to all parts of the island. Food For The Poor has completed more than 250 projects in Jamaica over the past five years, and continues to replace dilapidated shacks with permanent housing. In 2013, Food For The Poor, through the generosity of donors, constructed 2,456 housing units throughout the country. Since inception, the charity has built 37,340 housing units island-wide.

“Thousands of people remain on a waiting list to receive Food For The Poor housing across Jamaica. This organization will continue to help as many people as possible by focusing on one family at a time. This is the only way to approach the situation, if not, then it would become overwhelming,” said Robin Mahfood, President and CEO of Food For The Poor. “Housing, education and self-sustaining projects are major areas of focus, with the goal of meeting the immediate needs of the truly destitute, and ultimately helping the poor to rise out of poverty.”

It was the plea for help from the poorest of the poor living in inhumane conditions in Cite Soleil, located in the capital of Port-au-Prince, which turned Food For The Poor’s heart toward Haiti in 1986. This long-established presence allowed the organization to respond immediately when the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake devastated the country. The same rapid response the charity mobilized during the earthquake crisis was activated when news of the October 2010 cholera outbreak reached Food For The Poor. Now the organization has once again stepped in to help on the heels of another potential outbreak – the Chikungunya virus.

“This virus or ‘the fever’ that’s being transmitted by mosquitoes is spreading fast, and now that the rainy season is here, it is on the verge of becoming an epidemic,” said Mahfood. “The Food For The Poor-Haiti office made an urgent request for medicine in May, and more than 8,000 boxes and bottles making up seven pallets have been shipped. Food For The Poor will continue to monitor the situation and will work on securing more medicines as needed.”

There also are dozens of ongoing Food For The Poor supported projects in Haiti. These projects include: aquaculture, animal husbandry, agricultural, orphan-support,  housing and sanitation, community development, water improvement, school construction and support, feeding programs, fishing villages, alternative energy, and medical initiatives.

Since the 2010 earthquake a total of 4,605 two-room homes have been constructed in Haiti. Clean water also is a critical need in the Caribbean country. Food For The Poor installed 121 water wells in 2013, and with the help of Water Missions International, has installed a total of 78 water filtration units, plus three chlorinators since 2010. Each unit purifies and chlorinates up to 10,000 gallons of water a day. 

Twenty-three years ago this month, Food For The Poor began working in Guyana, delivering food and other basic items to Guyana’s poor. Since then, the South Florida-based nonprofit has expanded its services to meet the growing needs of the country’s impoverished residents. It is now the leading organization providing relief to the people of Guyana.

In 2012, the organization constructed the Hosanna Village in the community of Mashabo, Essequibo Coast, and started the construction of 40 homes and a water project for the Swan Village located close to the Soesdyke Highway.  Last year, work continued on the development of the Swan Village, with 25 additional homes and a community center.

This year, an ambitious project has stretched to build a village in an extremely remote area in the northwestern part of the country. When completed, the village will have 40 homes, a community center and a renovated and expanded primary school. Food For The Poor has delivered more than 900 computer workstations to the South American country, and built 3,134 housing units in Guyana to date.

“When you add it all up, there’s a total of more than 82 years of combined dedicated service between these three countries. Words cannot express the gratitude we have toward the Food For The Poor staff, the donors and most importantly for our heavenly Father, who has opened up the floodgates of heaven onto this organization so that we can help others,” said Mahfood.

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.

Thanks its Donors for 32 Years of Love

	This mother and her children in Guyana were provided a new home by generous Food For The Poor donors. Since the charity's inception, more than 91,000 housing units have been built.
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2014) – On its 32nd anniversary of serving the poor, Food For The Poor thanks its donors for what they have done for the most destitute in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. The ministry that started out as a feeding program in Jamaica has grown exponentially to become the largest international relief organization in the United States, with associated charities in Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica and Canada.

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

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

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

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

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

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Jamaica’s Golden Jubilee inspires investment in island’s youth

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Aug. 1, 2012) – Jamaica will celebrate 50 years of independence from British rule on Aug. 6, 2012. Jamaica’s golden jubilee anniversary is especially meaningful to Food For The Poor, which earlier this year commemorated its three decades of service to the hungry, destitute, and abandoned. In 1982, the nonprofit started out as a feeding program in Jamaica, and since then has grown exponentially to become the largest international relief organization in Jamaica and the United States.

Housing, education and agriculture are now also major areas of focus for Food For The Poor, all with the goal of meeting the immediate needs of the poorest of the poor and helping the destitute rise out of poverty. Some Food For The Poor accomplishments in Jamaica:

• The charity continues to replace dilapidated shacks across the island with safe, permanent housing. Since inception, the nonprofit has built 33,389 housing units in Jamaica. Today, thousands of poor remain on the waiting list to receive a Food For The Poor house.

• More than 18,500 containers of essential goods have been shipped to Jamaica since 1982. These items have been distributed to clinics, prisons, schools, and underserved neighborhood institutions.  

• Seventeen fishing village initiatives, fruit tree planting projects, animal husbandry and agricultural programs provide food and income, which help to create self-sustaining communities.

• Food For The Poor continues to provide clean water, build schools, training centers, and clinics, and to support nursing homes and orphanages.  

To mark the island’s golden anniversary, Food For The Poor launched the “Jamaica 50 Campaign” to build 50 schools in 50 months. The initiative will work like this: 

• In August of 2012, the first school will open, and then a new school will open each month for the next 50 months.

• Food For The Poor will replace schools that have been deemed as an unfit space for children to learn. 

“It is important for those who have decided to leave Jamaica to pursue their dreams abroad to remember their homeland, the homeland of their parents, their grandparents,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “The best gift of all is the gift of knowledge, and those who are in a position to help can do so by providing the children of Jamaica with safe and inspiring places to learn.”  

The Consulate General of Jamaica Miami Sandra Grant-Griffiths, will honor Food For The Poor and Robin Mahfood, on Saturday, Aug. 18, for the charity’s long-term commitment to Jamaica.

Other honorees include Bevan “Duke” Earle, CEO, The Duke of Earle Group; Wayne C. Golding, Sr., Principal, The Golding Law Group; Pauline Grant, CEO, Broward Health North Broward Medical Center; Marlon Hill Esq., Partner, DelancyHill LLC, Miami; Honorable Dale V.C. Holness, Commissioner, Broward County Board Commissioner; Captain Barrington Irving, Aviator, Experience Aviation Ltd.; Dunbar McFarlane, General Manager, National Building Society of Cayman; Honorable Hazelle P. Rogers, Florida State Representative, District 94; Robert W. Runcie, Superintendent of schools, Broward County; Marlene Williams, Vice President, XEROX Corporation; and Clinton F. Wong, President, Skymark Development Company.

The Jamaica Nurses Association, Florida (JNAF) will also be honored.

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
       

Inspiration from the poor: Gifts of hope, faith & love -- Food For The Poor celebrates 30 years of service

Like the luminous reflection from a shiny pearl, Food For The Poor has been for three decades a ray of hope for the hungry, the destitute, and the abandoned in the Caribbean and Latin America. The ministry may have started out as a feeding program in Jamaica 30 years ago, but has since grown exponentially to become the largest international relief organization in the United States, with associated charities in Canada, Haiti, Guyana and Jamaica.

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’s goal for 2012 is to build 12,000 homes, dig 1,200 water wells, and ship 1,200 containers of food to help the destitute.

“There are so many problems in the world, and during this time of economic chaos the truly poor are the ones who suffer the most; they’re often overlooked or simply forgotten,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “For 30 years, we have responded to the cries of the poor. I am humbled by the reality that tens of thousands of families are now being helped by this ministry. What a tremendous blessing.”

Food For The Poor was founded by Ferdinand (Ferdy) Mahfood in 1982. He and his wife, Patti, traveled throughout the Caribbean working to bring relief to victims of poverty, disease and natural disasters. Ferdy once told friends, “When I can be among Jesus’ poor, that is where I find the face of God.”

In 1985, the ministry built its first home for a family in Jamaica. In 1988, Food For The Poor responded to the needs of victims of Hurricane Gilbert on the island, drilled its first water well in Haiti in 1992, and three years later built its first school, the Ti Aiyti School in Cite Soleil. In 1996, Food For The Poor expanded to begin serving the poor in Central America, specifically El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. In 2000, Robin Mahfood assumed the role of president. A year later, Food For The Poor’s first fishing village was built in Old Pera, Jamaica.

“The name of our organization has become somewhat of a misnomer because we do so much on behalf of the poor,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Since the very beginning, the goal of this ministry has been to teach and to provide those we serve with the necessary tools to support themselves, their families, and their communities.”

Food For The Poor is building homes, hospitals, schools, and community centers that provide technical training. The ministry has also implemented animal husbandry, agricultural and aquaculture projects in the countries it serves to help the poor generate income.

Food For The Poor immediately responded to the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti by shipping food, water, medicines, water-filtration systems, building supplies, tools and hygiene kits. Since the tragedy, Food For The Poor has built or replaced a dozen schools, installed 45 water filtration units, and built 2,681 homes. The organization is committed to long-term recovery efforts.

“Food For The Poor celebrated 25 years in Haiti in 2011. As we look toward the future, we will be there every step of the way providing gifts of hope, faith and love, in order to help our brothers and sisters to rebuild their homeland,” said Mahfood.

On Friday, Feb. 10 at 8:30 a.m., a celebration commemorating Food For The Poor’s 30th anniversary will take place at the Coconut Creek headquarters. There will be a procession representing the 17 countries Food For The Poor serves, songs of praise, video presentations, and poetry readings in tribute to three decades of service.

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

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

Food For The Poor celebrates 25 years in Haiti

When Food For The Poor first began its work in Haiti, the organization was responding to a cry for help for those living in subhuman conditions in the country’s largest and most dangerous slum, Cite Soleil located in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Five containers of rice were delivered in 1982 to prevent families from starving. By 1986, when Food For The Poor was licensed to work in Haiti, the charity delivered $4.1 million in aid.

Since then, the relief and development work has not ceased. The long tenure of Food For The Poor in Haiti made it possible to respond quickly and efficiently last year when the country was faced with the double challenge of a devastating earthquake and an outbreak of cholera. In 2010, Food For The Poor shipped 205 containers of goods worth $188 million to Haiti.

“We believe that every human being deserves the simple dignity of having sufficient food, clean water, adequate shelter, an education, medical attention, and the opportunity to become self-sufficient. Nowhere is that more true than for the people of Haiti, who have a special place in our hearts,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “I take this opportunity to thank all of our donors who have supported so many projects throughout Haiti over these 25 years.”

To date, Food For The Poor has built more than 15,000 homes in Haiti, and is focused on self-sufficiency projects:

•Fishing villages and aquaculture projects are providing residents with new food sources, and entire communities with a gainful source of income.
•There are 33 fishing villages in full operation in a variety of coastal locations, and 10 villages are being planned for development in 2011.
•40 tilapia ponds have been completed throughout the country. Another eight
tilapia ponds and five pangasius (Basa) hatching ponds are under construction, with various future sites being considered for aquaculture projects.
•More than 20 Food For The Poor projects in Haiti are geared toward production of other food products – chickens, goats, cows, fruit trees, and vegetable farms.
•By the end of 2010, Food For The Poor had distributed more than 350,000 fruit trees. In addition to helping small sustenance farmers, these projects help villages set up community farms where residents can enjoy harvests of peppers, corn, and other healthy vegetables.
•Animal husbandry projects provide individual families with their own animals to breed and consume – predominantly goats, chickens and cows. In addition, farms are being established to raise strong, healthy animals to perpetuate the distribution process.

Food For The Poor’s vision for 2011 includes plans to continue rebuilding Haiti. Its goal is to provide 5,000 more housing units, install at least 120 water wells with pumps, and supply 30 additional solar-powered water filtration and chlorination systems to help in the fight against cholera and other water-borne diseases.

“Nowhere is our optimism for Haiti more evident than in our building of schools. Education will be key to a better future,” Mahfood said. “We have raised enough funds to start rebuilding four large schools this year that were destroyed in the earthquake.”

Those schools are Marie Clarac, George Marc, Jean Marie Guilloux, and St. Francois D’ Assise all of which are in Port-au-Prince. They will accommodate 3,400 students.

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:
Kathy Skipper
Food For The Poor
Director of Public Relations
(954) 427-2222 x 6614
kathys@foodforthepoor.org

“Together: We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe”

Food For The Poor will have a meditative, candlelit service at Food For The Poor’s office on Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. The service will include scripture readings, moments of quiet reflection, songs, and prayers all in remembrance of the approximately 3 million Haitians and international travelers whose lives forever changed on Jan. 12. Together we will celebrate the persistence and faith of the Haitian people, the courage and strength of the rescuers, and the brotherhood of their supporters.

Twelve candles will be lighted during the Taizé prayer service, to commemorate the day when the devastating earthquake hit. During the service, The Reverend Sara McKinley, Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Coral Springs and Karla Dejean, Director of Diversity at Pine Crest Preparatory School in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, will read scriptures. The Right Reverend Leopold Frade, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida and a member of Food For The Poor’s Board of Directors, will close the service with a blessing of peace.

At 4:53 p.m., immediately after the eighth candle is lighted, bells will ring. The Haitian-born vocalists in the group Supremacy will then sing the Haitian national anthem. A one-year anniversary video will be shown to document Food For The Poor’s rebuilding efforts, response to the deadly cholera outbreak, and the hope that remains alive in Haiti.

Food For The Poor has been working in Haiti since 1986. This allowed the organization to respond immediately when the earthquake devastated the country. As of December 31, 2010, Food For The Poor sent 1,459 tractor-trailer loads of food, water, medicines and other lifesaving relief aid valued at more than $205 million to Haiti. These shipping containers also included water-filtration systems, building supplies, tools and hygiene kits. Food For The Poor has honored its commitment to donors by spending all Haiti emergency earthquake relief funds by the end of October 2010.

With more than a million people living in tent cities, Food For The Poor’s biggest project is building homes. More than 14,000 homes have been constructed by the charity in Haiti – 1,589 of those since the Jan. 12 earthquake. The charity has the capacity to build 350 two-room homes a month, and is limited only by funding. Food For The Poor publishes regular updates of its work in Haiti on www.foodforthepoor.org.

Watch Food For The Poor’s Haiti Earthquake Anniversary 2011 video.

A summary of Food For The Poor's work in post-earthquake Haiti is also available.

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.

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