We’ll Always Be There

Musicians Hopeton and Willie Lindo, inspired by loyalty to their Jamaican homeland and by the devastating earthquake in Haiti, sat down last year to write some notes and lyrics, and the result was a love song to people everywhere who are in need. They titled their work We’ll Always Be There, and offered the finished piece to Food For The Poor as a gift.

“Helping the less fortunate gives me a great sense of purpose,” said Hopeton Lindo. “I consider it an honor to be part of the Food For The Poor mission.”

The song says, in part: “I see your troubles, I feel your pain...It doesn’t matter how long, we’ll always be there…I hear your call, it won’t be in vain…We’re here to lift you up and carry you through.” Meaning it to be broad enough for any struggling person or country, the lyrics continue: “Struggles and disasters, no matter where you are….When all the cameras are gone, even when it’s tough to just hold on. We won’t stop ‘til it’s done…We’ll always be there.” To listen to the song, go to Food For The Poor's SoundCloud profile.

“We’ll Always Be There” was used for the first time in a video produced by the organization for its Jan. 12 anniversary of the earthquake. The video can be viewed on YouTube. The charity will continue to use the song in other ways to bridge the gap between the needy and those who have a heart for those who are hurting.

“When Hopeton called to tell us he and his friends had written and performed a song for us, we were tremendously touched,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “We are grateful to each and every entertainer involved, for they truly have given a blessing to the destitute, those devastated by natural disasters and those who believe they might have been forgotten by the rest of the world. God has not forgotten them, and it is our job to show them His love, through all the tools we have, including music.”

The song was written by Hopeton Lindo and Willie Lindo, from HeavyBeat Records. Musicians on the track are Robbie Shakespeare, Robbie Lyn, Paul Douglas, Willie Lindo, Tony Green and Nambo Robinson. Singers are Stevie Face, J.C Lodge, Esther Fortune, Dobby Dobson, Glen Washington, Ambelique, Nikesha Lindo, Hopeton Lindo, Lloyd Brown, Peter Gee, Sharon Forrester, Barry Biggs, Desi Roots, The Melodians, Kasief Lindo, and Danielle Pyton.

Willie wrote a note expressing his feelings about creating the song: “I have always been very passionate about helping people in need. We all know that when the cameras leave during or after any catastrophe, in most cases that does not mean the work is done. That is where the inspiration came from for the song We’ll Always Be There. To know that I am in collaboration with Food For The Poor gives me a great sense of comfort.” He signed it, “One love, Willie Lindo.”

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.

Contact:
Kathy Skipper
Director of Public Relations
(954) 427-2222 x 6614
kathys@foodforthepoor.com

“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.

Food For The Poor Installs Water Filtration Systems to Aid Prevention of Cholera

Food For The Poor’s 24-year tenure in Haiti has aided the nonprofit’s immediate response to the spread of cholera. As the threat of disease has loomed over Haiti’s recovery from January’s destructive earthquake, Food For The Poor remained committed to investing in sanitation and water projects throughout the country.

“Where Food For The Poor has installed water treatment systems prior to this crisis we have not heard of a single reported case of cholera,” said Daniel Rouzier, the Chairman of Food For The Poor-Haiti, who is coordinating Food For The Poor’s in country response.

The strategy of providing long-term solutions through water filtration systems and permanent housing has benefited regions where Food For The Poor works. The filtration systems each can treat up to 10,000 gallons of water per day and reduce waterborne diseases by removing suspended pathogens. Water filtration units are operational in Poirier, Desdunes (2), Dokozel, Villard, Petit Reviere, Poteneau, Descarreaux, Marchands Dessalines, and Gros Chaudière.

“We have mobilized a good number of doctors and nurses to visit vulnerable areas,” wrote Father Duken Augustin, who partners with Food For The Poor in Cap-Haiten, Haiti. “We continue to fight. Please keep us in your prayers.”

Infected persons, seeking medical help have traveled south to the capital and north to Cap-Haitien, creating the potential for countrywide contamination – to the point where the neighbor country, the Dominican Republic, has closed its border.

Access to clean water is a matter of life and death for the people of Haiti. Food For The Poor moved quickly to install 10 solar-powered filtration units in Haiti’s affected Artibonite region and mobilized the distribution of bottled water by the container. Water Missions International in partnership with Food For The Poor has helped to install the water filtration units. An additional 10 water filtration units will be air freighted and installed in the Artibonite region, for a total of 20 since the cholera outbreak.

“Cholera and malaria do not kill people in First World countries where there is access to medicine,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director. “In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, destitute children are often emaciated and their immune systems are compromised. If the disease is not contained, the problem could expand well beyond its current bounds.”

Pit latrines and sanitation blocks that include both toilets and shower stalls are critically needed to prevent the spread of dysentery, cholera and malaria. Food For The Poor’s permanent homes are constructed to meet these standards.

“Water from the rivers, where the majority of the people find water to drink, bathe, cook and wash, is the same river where animals drink, bathe and defecate,” said Aloma.

Critical items being sent are:

• Medicines, including antibiotics and oral rehydration salts. These will be airlifted.
• Hygiene kits with soap, toothpaste and other personal care items to help prevent spread of disease. The distribution of prepositioned supplies in the Port-au-Prince distribution center has been initiated. Approximately 31,000 personal care and hygiene kits were shipped from the Coconut Creek distribution center on Friday.
• Blankets for more than 46,600 people. Shipment left Food For The Poor’s Coconut Creek distribution center today.
• Powerade and Pedialyte.

To learn how to help, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/emergency.

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.