Food For The Poor Thanks Its Donors and Volunteers

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (April 22, 2013) – In honor of National Volunteer Week, April 21-27, Food For The Poor celebrates its donors and countless volunteers for the integral roles they serve in caring for the destitute.

“Food For The Poor recognizes that all its donors are crucial to the charity’s mission of saving lives,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director. “Volunteers are continual sources of action and change, because they share their genuine enthusiasm and fundraising causes with friends and family members.”

Two years ago, Food For The Poor donor Kevin Carges spoke to members of the Global Solidarity ministry at Church of the Transfiguration in Pittsford, N.Y. After describing how he and other volunteers from the group Eight 4 World Hope partner with Food For The Poor to fund schools in Jamaica, the Transfiguration group was inspired to partner with Food For The Poor to build a community of 20 two-room homes in El Salvador. In February, members of the Transfiguration group traveled to El Salvador to paint five of the homes, and meet the beneficiary families.

For another supporter who lived with cystic fibrosis, what started as a school project and mission trip to Jamaica led his parents to create a Champions For The Poor website in his memory. To honor their son Ben Tolmei’s spirit, his parents are raising money to build a home in Jamaica. In June, they will travel to Jamaica to personally hand the keys to the new home to a family.

In addition to shelter, other supporters are raising awareness and money to install water wells, as well as build schools, clinics and soy product factories.

Ideas of how you can make a difference:  

• Become a Champion For The Poor:
  Food For The Poor’s personal fundraising program encourages donors to create their own personalized web pages for causes close to their hearts. There are ten distinct categories; Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, Graduations, Individual Causes, Group Causes, In Loving Memory, Faith-based, Rebuild Haiti, and Businesses Giving Back.


• Become a volunteer ambassador:
  Present Food For The Poor’s mission at events in your local community. Training is provided.
  
  
• Volunteer, organize or attend an annual event:
  Host a Party With A Purpose to benefit Food For The Poor, or volunteer at a fundraiser.


• Involve Your Church, School or Community Organization:
  Students from elementary to college can find creative ways to raise funds through events on campus and within their communities. Start a Students For The Poor chapter at your school or host an All-Nighter for the Poor to increase awareness of malnutrition and to fund self-sustaining solutions to alleviate hunger in developing countries.
  
  
• Become a corporate volunteer:
  Get involved in fundraising, and travel to the countries we serve to do hands-on projects.


• Planned Giving:
  Donors are able to help others while making prudent and beneficial financial choices for themselves and family members.


• Employer Matching Gifts:
  Food For The Poor encourages donors to ask their employers to match charitable donations.


• Request a Speaker:
  Food For The Poor’s Speakers’ Bureau arranges speaking engagements for churches, organizes church and school mission projects, and manages national outreach projects.

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.

Food For The Poor is Proud to Partner with TOMS

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (April 18, 2013) – Food For The Poor is proud to partner with TOMS to provide new shoes to children in some of the most impoverished areas of the Caribbean and Latin America. Children were so excited at one of the initial shoe distributions in Honduras that they stormed the beach to help unload boxes of TOMS Shoes from boats that had just arrived. Hoisting the boxes on their shoulders and hauling them in wheelbarrows, the children raced to the school, hoping to be first in line.

“One child was so overwhelmed by the newness and cleanness of the shoes that he did not want to put them on,” said Juan Ramon, the Cortes chapter coordinator for Cepudo, Food For The Poor’s Honduras in-country partner. “Eventually, he did put them on, and he was so proud of them.”

Even though it was a Sunday, the children dressed neatly in their school uniforms to receive their new pair of TOMS. TOMS Shoes were distributed at four schools in the poor coastal communities of Puerto Cortes, Honduras. There is no reliable electric or water source in the area, and the only available transportation is by horseback or on foot. Some children do not attend school because they do not have adequate shoes to wear. In addition, without proper footwear, children’s feet are vulnerable to cuts, injury and soil-transmitted infections. For these reasons, it is especially important that children have shoes to protect their feet.

“In developing countries, something as simple as a pair of new shoes makes a huge difference in the lives of these children,” said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director. “The TOMS Shoes that were distributed to these grateful children will continue to play an active role in the children's health, educational attainment, and self-esteem for many years.”

Through TOMS’ One for One®™ movement, new shoes will be distributed to children repeatedly as they grow. A pair of new shoes, in addition to meeting the basic needs of a child, increases their confidence, leading to better opportunities through an increase in the child’s school attendance.

“We have been able to help 100 percent of the students in the area, according to government records,” said Ramon. “This is a historic event for us and for the area. We have never been able to distribute such a large quantity of aid, and reach so many people at the same time. So far we have distributed new pairs of TOMS Shoes to more than 100 selected schools.”

Food For The Poor’s partners help with everything from self-sustaining aquaculture farms to feeding nutritious meals to school children.

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.

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet.  Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One™. Since then, TOMS has evolved from a shoe company to the One for One company, and is now addressing an entirely new need around the world in addition to shoes through eyewear.

Find Your Stride and Help Educate Children: 5K Walk/Run to Raise Funds for Hope For Haitians

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 25, 2013) – Hope For Haitians will be joining forces with Food For The Poor for their second annual 5K Walk/Run For Education fundraiser. This family themed event will feature live music, balloon artistry and face painting; a perfect opportunity for anyone at any fitness level to help raise awareness and funds for much needed school supplies and uniforms for children in Haiti.

The event will be on Saturday, May 11, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. at the Kane County Government Center located at 719 South Batavia Ave. in Geneva, Ill. Please visit www.HopeForHaitians.org to register your team and start your fundraising. Registration includes a T-shirt and is $25 for adults. The event is free for participants 17 and under. 
For more information on the 5K Walk/Run For Education, please contact Theresa Kegley at 1-815-847-0656 or email theresa@hopeforhaitians.org.  Registration starts at 7 a.m., the walk/run begins at 8:30 a.m. and the awards ceremony is at 10 a.m.
The course is USA Track and Field certified and timed.

For every $50 raised by participants their name will be entered into a grand drawing for two tickets to a White Sox game. Participants who raise $250 also will be entered into a drawing that includes gift cards, gift baskets and many more wonderful prizes.

Event sponsors include: Lou Bachrodt Chevrolet, Volkswagen and BMW, Paddle & Trail, Kane County Chronicle, S&S Activewear, Dr. Dickens, Mason and Kissel Dentistry, Dick Ponds Athletics, Fresh Market, Kohl’s, Savant, Eggar Insurance Agency, Inc, and St. Charles Bank and Trust.

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.

Water, Water everywhere, but is it Safe to Drink?

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 18, 2013) – For the poorest of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America, access to clean water is virtually non-existent. Thousands of families in the countries we serve need safe, clean drinking water. Sadly, for many in the rural communities, their only source of water comes from a watering hole, river or a stream. These waters may appear clean, but they are often harboring harmful and potentially deadly bacteria.

International World Water Day is set aside each year as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. As World Water Day celebrates its 20th year on March 22, Food For The Poor will launch its fourth annual Water Weekfundraising campaign, March 18 through March 25. During this weeklong donation drive, the charity is seeking to raise money for water filtration units, water wells and pumps.

“Food For The Poor understands the vital importance of providing the villages we build with access to clean water and proper sanitation. Many of the very young and the elderly die from preventable waterborne illnesses such as dysentery, cholera and parasitic infections,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “The theme for this year’s World Water Day is ‘International Year of Water Cooperation’ and by supporting Water Week 2013 you will be helping to provide a community with safe drinking water. It only takes a little to make a big difference.”

Over the past decade, Food For The Poor has completed more than 1,475 water projects, which include wells, cisterns, tanks, distribution systems, and water treatment units in the countries the organization serves. Thanks to generous donors and a partnership with Water Missions International, since the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Food For The Poor has installed 60 water filtration units that purify 600,000 gallons of water each day, and drilled 136 wells in Haiti. Together, these projects provide a safe water source for more than a million people. 

Can you imagine trying to live just one day without clean water or anything to drink? Sadly, this is the daily reality for Choupette, a 10-year-old Haitian girl. Choupette leaves her home early each day and treks down a rocky, treacherous mountainside to fill two one-gallon containers with contaminated, dirty water.  Please click on the following link www.foodforthepoor.org/quest to view a short video of Choupette's daily quest for water, and to learn how you can help quench her thirst and the thirst of those within her community.      
                                       
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.

Lenten Season to Kick-Start Food For The Poor’s Operation Starfish® Program

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2013) – Instead of giving something up this year for Lent, Food For The Poor has an opportunity for you to start a new charitable tradition. Food For The Poor’s Operation Starfish® program, inspired by author Loren Eisley’s story, “A Single Starfish,” emphasizes how we can help save one child at a time. It is a simple way for your family, church, school or organization to increase and celebrate the spirit of compassionate giving.

Operation Starfish® is designed to let families engage fully in the sacrificial spirit of Lent by giving participants both the opportunity for spiritual reflection and the chance to make daily sacrifices. The program encourages individuals to deposit 50 cents or more each day into their Operation Starfish® collection box to help the poor. At the end of Lent, when all donations are collected, combined and counted, homes for the destitute will be built.

Food For The Poor has free supplemental materials available to support Operation Starfish® activities, including special devotional calendars and children’s workbooks. Food For The Poor’s devotional calendar features a daily Gospel reading and a weekly reflection. The children’s workbook is divided into several lessons that teach children about poverty in the world, while offering activities that are fun and informative. 

Those interested in starting an Operation Starfish program at their parish, school, or organization can visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/operationstarfish  or call 877-654-2960 ext. 6803. Parishes nationwide also participate in Operation Starfish programs during Vacation Bible Study sessions, Christmas in July celebrations, Back to School fundraisers, and in preparation for Advent.

"Operation Starfish is a simple way to help the poor,” said Father Richard Martin, pastor at Church of the Nativity, Burke, Va. “Everyone in the church and school family can participate – young, old, active or homebound. Each individual does something – many small sacrifices come together to make a big difference in the lives of the poor. As a result, the parish family becomes closer to God and each other. We become more generous overall."

For 15 years, Fr. Martin has attributed the growth and fruitfulness of his parish to the partnership with Food For The Poor through the Operation Starfish program. Through the Operation Starfish program, Church of the Nativity parishioners have built over 1,000 houses in eight “Nativity Villages” in Haiti since 1998.

“This is hope realized; our parishioners have activated their prayers for the poor with concrete action, literally, as we provided concrete block houses for destitute families in Haiti,” said Fr. Martin

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.

Boca Grande Committee to Announce Plans for Friendship Village III

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2013) – During the week of Jan. 14-17, Hope For Haitians Chairmen Ben and Louise Scott, and eight Boca Grande Committee members, traveled with Food For The Poor to Haiti. During the three-day trip, the group attended the inauguration of the Boca Grande Friendship Village II in Michaud, and they also toured the location of the future site of Boca Grande Friendship Village III, where they received a very warm welcome.

In a prayer of thanksgiving for the visitors from Florida, one Manneville, Haiti resident said, “We thank you God, because they are people who recognize that we are people.  You put it into their hearts so they can relate to the situation that we are living in, this difficult situation.”  

Manneville is a small town located near Thomazeau in the community of Croix-des-Bouquets. The residents who live there are in desperate need of housing and access to clean drinking water. With a population of approximately 52,000, the community’s need can seem overwhelming, but the committee members are not intimidated. 

“We can only do so much, but our goal is to help as many as we can, build houses as fast as we can, and to raise as much money as we can. There are a lot of groups like us, but not enough, so we just want to do our part with what we have,” said Scott.
“What impressed me the most was the patience, the faith, and the hope that’s still here after three years,” said George Castrucci, Boca Grande Committee Member.  “It’s very sad, but very pleasing they’re hopeful, and hopefully we can do something to help them.”

Scott will address the Boca Grande Community at a reception on Feb. 21, at the historic Gasparilla Inn Beach Club, located at 445 Gilchrist Ave. in Boca Grande, Fla. He will elaborate on plans for Boca Grande Friendship Village III in Manneville, Haiti.
Boca Grande Friendship Village III will have the following:

• 35 two-room houses with sanitation. Each house will be built with a gutter system on the roof that will be connected to a water cistern, which will provide families with immediate access to rain water.
• 2,000 trees will be planted around the community to reforest the land and also increase fruit bearing trees.
• 100 goats will be distributed to residents in the community. The residents will be properly trained on how to care for the animals.                                                        
• 50 residents will receive agricultural tools to help them become more productive farmers.

“The Boca Grande Committee has partnered with us to fund communities, and the members are helping families to have a home, which will provide their children more hope, more dignity and the ability to live life with some measure of comfort, said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “These communities also will allow the parents to seek employment and to have that wonderful feeling of being self-sustaining.”

The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee has been working through Food For The Poor to build homes since 2009.  The first Boca Grande Friendship Village is located in Pierre Payen, Haiti. Click here to see what some of the committee members saw while visiting the tent cities, and during the inauguration of Friendship Village II.

Committee members include: Ben and Louise Scott, the Rev. Gary Beatty, the Rev. Brian Brightly, the Rev. Jerome Carosella, the Rev. Michelle Robertshaw, George and Lois Castrucci, Patricia Chapman, Ray and Iliene Corcoran, Randy and Sue Eddy, Charlie and Florita Field, Evelyn Finnegan, Lou and Corie Fusz, Stephen and Susan Jansen, Tom and Nancy Lorden, Colvin and Madelaine McCrady, and Peter and Elsa Soderberg.                                                 

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.

Food For The Poor’s Building Hope Gala Raises Record Number of Roofs in Jamaica

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2013) – A sold-out crowd of more than 400 South Florida residents attended Food For The Poor’s 18th annual Building Hope Gala on Feb. 2 at The Polo Club of Boca Raton. Enough money was raised to build homes for 65 destitute families in Canaan Heights in May Pen, Jamaica. Construction on the homes is scheduled to begin in March.
“Each family will be moved into a home with solid walls, a metal roof, and a front door that can be locked. These homes will help keep children out of harm’s way, and provide a strong, safe haven filled with hope of a new beginning for generations to come,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor.

Additionally, the 65 two-room homes will have a cement foundation, solar panel light, and sanitation and water storage facilities. Families will receive tools and seeds to plant their personal backyard gardens, and self-sustaining animal husbandry projects will be established. In an effort to rebuild the community, repairs will be made to the local school/community center.

A video that documented several of the committee members’ December trip to Jamaica was shown to highlight the need that exists island-wide. The committee’s testimonials inspired attendees to pledge to build a record number of houses during the charity’s live house-rally.
“When you fund a home for a poor family, you are funding the chance to build a better future and an opportunity for self-sufficiency,” said Mahfood.

Award-winning reggae artist Tarrus Riley and saxophonist Dean Fraser hit the right notes at the nonprofit’s charity gala, as they called attention to the critical need for permanent housing in Jamaica. The crowd filled the dance floor as they performed the hit singles Contagious, Stay With You and She’s Royal. Jamaican saxophonist Fraser also played the instrumental version of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.

Guests also had the opportunity to enter a drawing to win a MINI Cooper, at $50 a ticket. The winning ticket will be pulled Thursday, May 16.

For additional information regarding the drawing, please call 1-888-404-4248.

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.
“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.

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, Miami Dolphins, Premier Aircraft Sales, Quadriga Art, LLC, Seaboard Marine, TD Bank, United Healthcare, 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.