Water well in Haiti to quench villagers’ thirst, empower women

As a hobbyist quilter, Mary Pat Palombo feels at ease behind her Singer sewing machine. But she still remembers feeling helpless as she watched destitute Nicaraguan women trek for miles in search of water for their families to drink. That life-changing experience, which still brings tears to her eyes, inspired Palombo to sew high-fashion tote bags for the nonprofit Food For The Poor.

Listening to contemporary classical pianist Ann Sweeten, and using bold-colored fabrics with eye-catching patterns, Palombo is determined to channel her talents to empower women by raising funds to have a water well drilled in a remote village in Haiti. Palombo’s tote bags are available for a minimum donation of $70 toward her water project. One hundred percent of proceeds will be donated to Food For The Poor.

“I call my project 'Totes for Water' because I want to empower women who must tote their water long distances to provide for themselves and their families,” said Palombo, who was surprised to learn that one gallon of water weighs 8.35 pounds. “By doing this, I hope to be sharing my faucet with them. Water is the gift that keeps on giving. Water leads to food, hygiene, hydration, farming, jobs and learning.”

To purchase a unique, 18-by-25-inch lined tote bag with mini-zippered purse, please e-mail your order to totesforwater@gmail.com. Fabric swatches, product samples and donation opportunities are available on the charity’s secure website www.foodforthepoor.org/totesforwater. To support the effort, make checks out to Food For The Poor and include a special reference number “SC#75375” so the money can be allocated to Palombo’s water project. Donations less than $70 dollars are also welcome.

“A common chore for female children in developing countries is to collect and carry heavy buckets of water on their heads for their family’s daily needs,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Often this time-consuming and treacherous task causes girls to miss class and remain uneducated, trapped in a life of poverty.”

In 2008, for Palombo’s 50th birthday, her husband Aldo renovated a Nicaraguan school in her honor. Together with their two daughters, Kimberly and Regina, they traveled to inaugurate the school and meet the beneficiaries. It was during this journey that the Palombo family first realized the importance of water. Women carried buckets to the pump inside the schoolyard because it was the closest access they had to clean water.

“Water is such an essential part of life that we take for granted,” said Aldo Palombo.

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

Strangers unite in a journey of hope for Honduras

It’s been 12 years in the making, and now 13 strangers from varied backgrounds will be forever united after making a commitment to help the poorest of the poor in Honduras. The group decided to put words into action, and fund a home building project after traveling with Food For The Poor on its first mission trip to the Central American country in early April.

“I was at my happiest on this trip when we as a group were doing something to help the people,” said Jeanne Johnson, a volunteer from Kansas. “I was so pleased that we actually got to do projects instead of driving past the people and observing from afar.”

On the first day, the team braved the heat as they gathered in the courtyard of a Food For The Poor-sponsored warehouse in San Pedro Sula. They stuffed big plastic bags with smaller bags of beans, rice, sugar, juices, personal care items and treats for the children. After a few hours in the still-rising heat, nearly 200 bags were delivered to the village of Ocotillo, a 30-minute ride from the complex.

Dozens of women, children and elderly waited patiently for their monthly supply of much needed and much appreciated goods. Many in the group of travelers did not speak Spanish, but that didn’t matter because the exchange between giver and receiver spoke louder than any words.

“Realizing that one family must live off of one bag of sugar, one bag of beans, and one bag of rice seemed ludicrous,” said Sarah Rohrman, from New Jersey. “However, knowing that this is how so many families live day-by-day really puts things into perspective.”

“In spite of their plight, the sincere happiness I see in these children’s faces is truly amazing. They have so little, I will never forget what I am seeing here today,” said Joshua Miller of Ohio.

The second stop in Ocotillo was at the city dump. Vultures, cows, pigs, goats, and dogs wandered, while people picked through mounds of garbage, working side-by-side in search of sellable goods and food. For some, this way of life has existed for generations. The “pickers,” as they’re called, wanted the group to ask God to please bless the garbage in order that their daily needs would be found in the trash – an odd request that brought all who heard it to tears.

“Mentally, the most meaningful site was the Ocotillo village and the dump. Both locations brought home to me the true sense of the need for education, and the assistance the very poor of the country also need,” said Doug Frederick, from Pennsylvania.

With many in need of sturdy housing, the second workday began with a two hour drive from San Pedro Sula into the mountain region of Santa Barbara. After weaving through hairpin turns, and cruising near cliffs so high the valley below was barely in view, the group reached the work site. They hiked up a steep hill and began constructing the foundations of two, two-room homes for a family of 16, who all shared a one-room hut on a ridge very close to the construction site.

“I am blown away by all of this because I am actually building a house for someone and it feels great!” said Anita Buckmaster of Texas.

The home building didn’t end there, the group traveled to a third housing site where they mortared, installed windows, and painted the front of the house green and orange. The 400-square-foot house has a porch, rests on a cement foundation, has a bathroom and is topped with a sturdy zinc roof.

The excitement came full circle when Efigenia Ramirez was presented with a key to a new home for herself and her family of 11.

“It’s beautiful, it’s so beautiful,” said Ramirez, in Spanish. “I thank you; thank you all for helping me and my family. I love the colors.”

The third and final workday began at the Pimienta Training Center in the Sula Valley where the group got to experience the harvesting of tilapia from a fish farm, animal husbandry projects and the planting of Moringa trees.

“My daughter, Ellie, and I feel blessed to have this opportunity to help the people of Honduras. The hands-on approach to various projects, such as planting these amazing trees, is one of many unforgettable experiences for us,” said Sofia Goerdt of Minnesota.

“Each site was very meaningful, but I recognize the vital importance of the training center because it teaches people how to be self-sufficient,” added Diana Scheeler from Illinois.

The team also visited an AIDS hospice facility and passed out hygiene kits to patients who are well enough to live outside the facility. The time the volunteers spent with the residents may have been short, but the precious moments of loving kindness and the exchange of compassion made a powerful impact.

“Those who are poor, and/or disabled in the United States have access to programs like free clinics, social security, disability, public aid, etcetera – they don’t,” said Susan O’Neal of Illinois.

The third workday ended with a visit to a home for 33 children living with HIV/AIDS. To hear their laugher and to see their smiles made it easy to forget they are ill. Many in the group paired off and distributed toys, school supplies and treats to the children.

“This was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. I feel blessed to have been a part of this mission,” said Deacon Ron Karcher of Illinois.

“We are so excited to finally be able to send a mission group to Honduras for the first time so they see for themselves the various projects we have in place there,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “I am looking forward to many more mission trips to the Central American country in the near future. By working together we will be able to permanently transform lives.”

Please visit www.foodforthepoor.org/hondurasapril2011 to learn how to help with this home building project.

To view more pictures from the trip, please visit Food For The Poor's Facebook page.

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:
Wanda Wright
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com

Food For The Poor focused on aid, efficiency

Just a few days into 2010, one of the largest disasters in modern history devastated Haiti. In response, the leading provider of aid to Haiti, Food For The Poor, sent 1,461 tractor-trailer loads of food, water, medicines and other lifesaving relief aid valued at $188.9 million. While Haiti dominated headlines for much of the year, the nonprofit continued to send supplies to the other 16 countries served in the Caribbean and Latin America.

In total, the nation’s third-largest international relief and development agency provided more than $1 billion in aid to the poor in 2010.

According to Food For The Poor’s 2010 Annual Report:

- Food For The Poor held its operating expenses under 4 percent -- ensuring that more than 96 percent of donations go directly toward programs that help the poor.

- More than 23.2 million pounds of rice, 11.5 million pounds of beans, 2.9 million pounds of canned foods, and 24 million pounds of other life-sustaining foods were delivered to the hungry.

- The charity built 9,460 housing units – bringing the total to more than 71,123 since 1982. In Haiti alone, Food For The Poor built 1,589 permanent two-room homes with sanitation units.

- Food For The Poor sent 672.5 trailers of medicines and medical supplies and 79 trailers of educational supplies.

- Food For The Poor continued to provide clean water, build schools and clinics, and support nursing homes and orphanages.

- The charity gave hope to thousands through 50 fishing villages in Haiti and Jamaica, tilapia ponds, by planting fruit trees, and by providing animal husbandry and agricultural programs. Thousands of women are learning life skills in hundreds of training centers.

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 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

Only FIVE days left to make your donation count DOUBLE!

Thanks to a group of our generous donors, you now have the power to feed twice as many hungry children, to provide the food they so desperately need to survive.

Send your gift before this Sunday -- Easter -- and it will be matched, dollar-for-dollar. To help, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org/eastergift.

Haitian Marie Geleen and her baby, Nelanda, 1, are pictured here. They live in an area that grows rice, but they can’t find any buyers for their rice, so there is no money for fruits, vegetables, and protein. Last year’s rice crop was spoiled by floods, so there is even less food than normal. Like thousands of other Haitian children, the young Gelens are suffering from malnutrition, slowly starving to death.

Hunger in Haiti is threatening innocent children’s chances for survival. World food prices have hit a record high and will likely not fall soon. This is devastating news for poor families struggling to recover from last year’s catastrophic earthquake, the recent cholera outbreak, and flooding. Vulnerable and anguished, they are forced to watch their children starve.

You can provide lifesaving food to starving children today and provide nutrition to children who have nothing. Please visit www.foodforthepoor.org/eastergift today to help.

Thank you for your continued support!

WLRN campaign feeds 780 children in Haiti for 6 months

More than 780 children in Haiti will be fed for six months, thanks to the generosity of Friends of WLRN and compassionate public radio listeners. For every $100 committed by supporters who called to make a donation on March 17, Friends of WLRN sent $18 to Food For The Poor.

At a time when soaring food and fuel prices are threatening nonprofits’ ability to get lifesaving food to the poor, the March 17 campaign was especially appreciated by the international development and relief agency.

“This gift of money for food could not have come at a better time,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Everything is costing more, and these children are depending on us to give them simple meals that will give them life and hope for one more day. We are very grateful for the support of Friends of WLRN and 91.3 WLRN.”

The campaign took on an even greater significance midday, when American Airlines executives heard the call for donations on the radio and were moved to help. They offered two tickets for every 100 donations, with the requirement the tickets be used by relief workers.

“This is a great campaign to help the people of Haiti, and American Airlines wanted to do something substantial to show our support,” said Peter Dolara, American’s Senior Vice President based in Miami. “We have proudly served Haiti for 40 years and believe this is an important effort to help the needy.”

This is not the first time Friends of WLRN has reached out to the children aided by Food For The Poor. 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 feeding programs.

Wagner Previato, Director of Marketing and Membership for Friends of WLRN, called the campaign a success for both the station and for the children.

“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.

“Through the generosity of 91.3 WLRN, Friends of WLRN and American Airlines, we can not only make sure that children get vital food, but Food For The Poor will benefit from the additional tickets to get essential relief staff to Haiti,” Aloma said.

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
Director of Public Relations
Food For The Poor
954-427-2222 x 6614
kathys@foodforthepoor.com

Lynn University students rough it, paying tribute to friends’ legacies and the poor

For the third year, Lynn University’s Students For The Poor slept, ate and studied on the university’s lawn inside tents and a structure that portrays housing built by Food For The Poor in developing countries. By sleeping outside and limiting themselves to one meal of rice and beans a day the week of April 4-7, they brought attention to deplorable living conditions that exist in developing countries.

“While they are not going to starve, they will be hungry – while they will not be wet or cold, they will be inconvenienced by sleeping on the ground,” said Dan Hennessey, vice-president of Lynn University’s Students For The Poor, describing the state of the students mid-week. “The idea is by the end of the week students will be a little more cognizant of those who are less fortunate.”

Despite foul weather that drove Lynn University students from their tents Tuesday afternoon, the students persevered in their mission to spread awareness. The storm provided a glimpse at what Haiti and other developing countries face as the start of hurricane season looms in June.

“We want to get a better understanding of how people in a Third-World country live and eat,” said Tom Schloemer, a member of Students For The Poor, and survivor of the 2010 Haiti earthquake that took the lives of four Lynn students and two professors.

At the Thursday evening forum, five students shared videos created to pay tribute to their friends’ legacies and to the destitute. Students testified how traveling to countries like Jamaica, Haiti and Nicaragua with the nonprofit has positively changed their lives. Since 2008, the campus organization has partnered and traveled with the international relief and development agency Food For The Poor.

Sarina Peddy, 21, shared how her friend Stephanie Crispinelli inspired her and others to travel with Food For The Poor to Jamaica in June 2010 to retrace her steps and to experience what inspired Stephanie to travel the following year to Haiti. In less than three days, Stephanie’s family and friends, along with contractors and carpenters, built and dedicated a basic school called ‘Steph’s Place’ in Race Course, Clarendon, Jamaica.

Gwendoline Darguste, 20, transferred to Lynn University’s campus after her school in Haiti collapsed during the catastrophic 2010 earthquake. While in Haiti earlier this year, she observed that with the aid received things are a little better, but the “…country’s scars are deep and the screams were even louder.” She asked that the people of Haiti not be forgotten. She thanked Food For The Poor and Students For The Poor for “…fighting hard so her people can have a better life.”

International Relations major, Darguste, also translated the Haiti Consulate General, Greny Bicha Antoine’s message of thanks and remembrance. Consul Antoine told how one high school student realized he did not have the right to complain about not having the newest brand-name shoes to wear to a party, after he realized how blessed he was to have full mobility of both of his legs.

Lynn University’s professor of Criminal Justice, Sindee Kerker, attended the forum and beamed as her daughter, Sami, 15, presented how the mother-daughter humanitarian team tie-dyed their way to Nicaragua with Food For The Poor, to build a home for a family in dire need.

Proceeds from this year’s Students For The Poor week will be used to fund projects in the “Journey of Hope Memorial Village” in Anse à Veau, Haiti. Food For The Poor has dedicated this village to the 12 Lynn University students and two faculty members who were in Haiti on a mission trip when the devastating earthquake struck.

“We can’t forget the events that happened last year in Haiti, however a lot of the world and news has,” said Rebecca Block, acting president of Lynn University’s Students For The Poor.

Block, 22, remembers the students and faculty who traveled on Lynn University’s 2010 J-Term course to Haiti with Food For The Poor. The group arrived one day before the catastrophic earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, instantly claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. Block chose to travel on the 2010 J-Term course to Jamaica.

“Words can’t even begin to express how much of an impact the 2010 J-Term course to Jamaica had on me,” said Robin Bouricius, a Lynn University Student For The Poor member. “Jamaica was a memorable trip that brought change and motivation into my heart. It was truly sad to see these people who don’t have the opportunities we have – struggling to get things like food and shelter.”

The Journey of Hope Memorial Village includes housing, access to sanitation, clean drinking water, and the supplies and resources necessary to raise chickens. Additionally, village residents will benefit from the construction of a community center that will provide a place for a health clinic and vocational training classes; a fruit tree orchard consisting of mango, citrus, avocado and breadfruit trees; and a nine-classroom school.

“I hope that someday people will understand the kind of trouble that other countries are in, and it shouldn’t take something as tragic as an earthquake to make people want to start helping out,” said Bouricius.

For $3,200, Food For The Poor can build a single-unit home with sanitation and a kitchenette to replace a crumbling shack that leaks when it rains. Since 1982, Food For The Poor has constructed more than 72,650 new housing units in the countries served with concrete foundations, locking doors, windows, and a zinc roof with hurricane straps.

“Our goal is to keep awareness alive and educate people about what they can do to help,” said Block.

To support their effort, make checks out to Food For The Poor and include a special reference number “SC# 64619” so the money can be attributed to Lynn University’s Students For The Poor campaign.

You can learn more about Food For The Poor’s 2011 mission trips for college students by e-mailing missions@foodforthepoor.com. You can also involve your school in Food For The Poor’s mission by calling 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6988 or e-mailing churchschool@foodforthepoor.org.

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

Doral Overseas Chinese Business Chamber honors Food For The Poor

The Doral Overseas Chinese Business Chamber will honor the work of the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor on May 14, when the chamber has its second annual gala to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Food For The Poor has had a long and fruitful partnership with the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), resulting in numerous projects in several of the countries served by Food For The Poor. For three years, Taiwan worked through Food For The Poor to send 40 containers of rice each month to Haiti. Then, immediately after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, Taiwan again stepped up to help with a donation of more than 400 tons of rice. The two organizations also have partnered on computer, agriculture and aquaculture projects, providing long-term solutions to hunger, not only in Haiti, but in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

“We’re blessed to have the support of the Doral Overseas Chinese Business Chamber and the Taiwan ICDF, two organizations that care about the poor,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Together, we can make a tremendous difference in the lives of those who have nothing. We are honored to be recognized by them on this very important occasion.”

George Yap, CEO of LEASA Industries Co, Inc. also will be honored at the dinner and awards ceremony. Yap, a Jamaican Chinese, is active in South Florida Jamaican and Asian communities and is a champion of the poor.

The event will be at 6:30 p.m. on May 14 at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, 4400 NW 87th Ave., Doral, FL 33178. Guests will enjoy dinner and special dance performances, in addition to the awards ceremony.

“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Food For The Poor, and hope to do our part in raising money for our neighbors in Haiti. After learning about how Food For The Poor helped Haitians build new homes, our chamber donated enough money to build one home for a Haitian family,” said Charles Cheng, CEO of the chamber. “I hope we will be able to raise more money on May 14 so Food For The Poor may build many more homes in Haiti and help transform the lives of many more people in Haiti.”

For more information about how to purchase tickets for the event, contact the Doral Overseas Chinese Business Chamber:

Charles Cheng, CEO
305-421-8978
doralocbc@gmail.com

Pedro Cheng, VP
305-793-8673
doralocbc2pedrocheng@gmail.com

Food For The Poor, the third-largest international relief and development organization in the United States, 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, ext. 6614
kathys@foodforthepoor.com

Your Easter gift can help TWICE as many children today!

This Easter, a group of generous donors has agreed to match, dollar-for-dollar (up to $500,000), donations received before April 24th. If you send your gift before Easter Sunday, it will be doubled to feed twice as many hungry children.

Meet the Gelen family of Haiti. Can you see that the baby is malnourished and the boy is too thin for his age? They live in an area that grows rice, but they can't find any buyers for their rice, so there is no money for fruits, vegetables, and protein. Last year's rice crop was spoiled by floods, so there is even less food than normal. Like thousands of other Haitian children, the young Gelens are suffering from malnutrition, slowly starving to death.

Will these children survive past Easter? Their fate may be decided by those who choose to respond to this call -- thank you for choosing life.

You can provide lifesaving food to starving children today and provide nutrition to children who have nothing.

Please, send your Easter gift today by visiting www.foodforthepoor.org/eastergift.

Starving children are depending on your compassion.

Forget the registry! Couple wants water well for wedding gift

The months of April, May and June are traditionally an idyllic time of the year for saying “I do” – but the nuptials for one pair has taken on an international twist, one where wedding guests are encouraged to help people more than 3,100 miles away.

The couple, Nancy Childress and Ken Haffey, sent out this request along with their wedding invitations, “If you were considering a present, we would love for you to support a freshwater project in Haiti set up in honor of our marriage.”

What was the response? “Surprise by some, but excitement and delight from others who understand who we are,” said Childress. “We’re both passionate about doing God’s will and helping others; this is what’s really important in life. We’re not rich, but we don’t need anything more materially; we have all we need.”

Childress, 55, works as a controller with an international manufacturing company. She met Haffey, a 52-year-old civil engineer with the state of Nevada, at church. Childress said she was attracted to Haffey’s desire to make a difference. The father of three adult children, Haffey is active in the couple’s parish and is dedicated to helping the homeless in their hometown of Carson City.

Childress also is no stranger to giving back. Moved to action after hearing a song about Haiti by Christian songwriter/singer Bryan Sirchio, she said she took her first trip to the Caribbean nation nearly a decade ago. It was on that trip she met and fell in love with a little boy and girl, whom she still sponsors. With no children of her own, she affectionately refers to Ellesie and John, who are now 17 and 13 respectively, as her daughter and son.

Childress later learned about the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor after a priest shared his experience with her church’s congregation. Intrigued by what she heard, the spirited Childress got involved with the charity – went to Jamaica, took her second trip to Haiti, and later traveled to Nicaragua to help build homes for the poorest of the poor. But there was something about Haiti and the polluted waterways in Port-au-Prince, she said, that left a burning impression in her mind.

“We’re told when traveling abroad ‘don’t drink the water’ because it will make you sick. But what if the water is so bad that the people who live there can’t even drink it? We don’t give much thought about the water we drink here in the United States, but Ken, who works with our state’s water department, does. It was his idea that we build an artesian water well in Haiti,” said Childress.

The world noticed how desperate the need for clean water is in Haiti when a cholera outbreak spread in that country. For the first time in decades, thousands of Haitians died as a result of a water-borne illness. To date, Food For The Poor, with the help of Water Missions International, has installed 30 water filtration units, and is in the process of installing 10 more units in the Artibonite region where the outbreak started.

“Access to a clean water source is one of the most precious gifts anyone can donate to a developing country. An artesian water well and pump will provide a village in Haiti with life-saving clear, clean water for years to come,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “I don’t know of too many people who are willing to pass up gifts for themselves on their wedding day in order to help others. They’re truly a very special couple.”

Childress and Haffey will marry at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Carson City, Nevada, on April 30. Please visit their wedding page to learn how to help with this project.

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:
Wanda Wright
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
wandaw@foodforthepoor.com

Class inspires students to take action and save lives

Civics teachers at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Va., challenged eighth graders to research how they could "Take Action to Change Our World." The program not only satisfied the curriculum, it also motivated students to take action to save lives, one child at a time.

"The thing that I found during my research that inspired me the most is that 75 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day," said Christine McGrath, 13, Church of the Nativity parishioner in Burke, Va. "That is less than the cost of the two yogurts I eat every day."

Christine’s school project raised more than $5,600 toward Church of the Nativity’s Operation Starfish gift for the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor. The donation will provide children the opportunity to attend school, and construct critically needed shelter to relocate a family from either a tent city or a dilapidated shack in a garbage-filled swamp.

“It makes me feel like I accomplished something, because my goal for the project was to raise enough money to build a house for $3,200, and I exceeded my goal,” said Christine. “It just goes to show you that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.”

Food For The Poor will build the housing unit with a latrine for $3,200 in the next phase of Church of the Nativity’s seventh village, in Chastenoye, Haiti. Food For The Poor homes are built with a strong, corrugated zinc roof, a solid poured-cement foundation, concrete-block walls, windows for ventilation, and a front door that can be locked. The remainder will award children scholarships to attend the Food For The Poor and Church of the Nativity sponsored schools in Merger and Prolonge, Haiti. In developing countries, the gift of schooling and the opportunity to learn how to read changes lives.

“After Christine surpassed her goal, it was one of the proudest moments of my life,” said Tim McGrath, her father.

Christine’s parents said she was introduced to the desperate needs in Haiti through Operation Starfish at Church of the Nativity.

“We can learn from these young ones – they teach us how to become aware of the needs of others, how to develop compassion for the needy, and how to act on behalf of the poor,” said the Rev. Richard Martin, Pastor at Church of the Nativity. “Awareness, compassion and action will truly make a difference in the lives of our Haitian sisters and brothers.”

Morgan Cobban, 14, and Samantha Lek, 14, also were shaped by their involvement at Church of the Nativity. Their project raised money to help construct a home for a destitute family in Nativity Village in Chastenoye.

To fundraise, Morgan, Samantha and Christine spread awareness about their initiatives by walking door-to-door within their community, while spreading consciousness nationwide through social networking sites. Additionally they hosted bake sales, sold raffle tickets and Hope for Haiti wristbands. Morgan’s sisters in California supported the cause by hanging posters in their offices and selling wristbands to coworkers.

“What the girls accomplished is the reason I teach,” said Jane Gordon, the girls’ Civics teacher, who has taught for 10 years. “Their persistent positive belief that they can truly make a difference in the world made their results possible. Not only have they helped numerous families in Haiti, but they have also inspired their friends, families and fellow students that such change is actually possible. They give us great hope that the future will be bright.”

“I am learning through my work as a volunteer that giving back to the world is a rewarding and satisfying experience,” said Morgan. “Also, it is important to keep in mind that no matter how difficult something may seem, even when we encounter a road block, it is imperative to persevere because I know that somewhere, someone will benefit from my actions, no matter how small they may seem.”

“We are so proud of the work Morgan has done with this project,” said Rick Cobban, Morgan’s father. “The girls have been working tirelessly for weeks putting a great deal of time and effort into seeing this through. They completely understand that every little bit helps and they are motivated by knowing they can make a difference.”

For more than 20 years, Martin – the originator of Operation Starfish® – has encouraged families to engage fully in the sacrificial spirit of Lent by giving parishioners the opportunity for spiritual reflection and the ability to make daily sacrifices to benefit those who are suffering. The program encourages individuals to deposit 50 cents or more each day to help the poor. At the end of Lent, when all donations are collected, combined and counted – housing, education and medical programs for the destitute will be funded through Food For The Poor. Food For The Poor’s 25-year tenure in Haiti aided the nonprofit’s response to the devastating January 2010 earthquake and most recently the spread of cholera.

“I am so grateful that I had the pleasure of helping out Food For The Poor by volunteering to help the Haitian people,” said Samantha. “Volunteering made me feel accomplished, and it was a very rewarding experience to help others.”

The project exhibits will be on display April 14 at the school’s Fourth Annual Lake Braddock Take Action Festival from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Community members are welcome to attend. Martin will present the parish’s donation to Food For The Poor in May 2011.

“I wasn’t surprised that Christine wanted to help those with less; she often looks for ways to help others,” said Beth McGrath, her mother. “After Christine made her first few hundred dollars from the bake sale, she became even more determined.”

“It is important to take action because trying to help the less fortunate is the right thing to do,” said Christine.

To involve your church or school in Food For The Poor’s mission call 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6988 or e-mail churchschool@foodforthepoor.org.

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