WLRN Campaign Helps Feed Children in Haiti

At a time when soaring food and fuel prices are threatening nonprofits’ ability to get lifesaving food to the poor, Friends of WLRN is reaching out once again to help Food For The Poor. When radio listeners support WLRN through the station’s fund drive, Friends of WLRN will in turn donate a portion of the proceeds to feed hungry and malnourished children in Haiti.

Friends of WLRN has dedicated its fundraising time from 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, to help Food For The Poor. For every $100 committed by listeners who call to support the station during that time, Friends of WLRN will donate $18 to feed a hungry child in Haiti for six months. Through the station’s generosity in two campaigns last year, more than 1,300 children were fed for six months through Food For The Poor’s feeding programs.

Wagner Previato, Director of Marketing and Membership for Friends of WLRN, called last year’s campaigns a success for both the station and for the children, and is hoping for additional support this time for Haiti as the country continues to endure crisis after crisis.

“The South Florida community and supporters of our public radio station responded generously when we mentioned that a portion of their contributions would be going directly to feeding children in Haiti through Food For The Poor,” said Previato. “Our partnership with Food For The Poor helped mobilize our efforts in making a gift that nourishes Haiti’s most vulnerable citizens, and supports 91.3 WLRN’s news coverage of Haiti and all other local news stories.”

In Haiti, more than half of the population, including two-thirds of the children, suffers from malnutrition. About 76 of every 1,000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday.

“This past year, we’ve experienced a lot of crises, and each one has further hurt the poor, but this convergence of rising costs threatens the provision of the most basic relief – the shipment of simple, life-sustaining foods,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “If you are helping the destitute, you must first start by providing food that will give them life and allow you to build from there. This will challenge all of us. We are so very grateful for the support of Friends of WLRN and 91.3 WLRN, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

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.com