GM Cares to Make a Difference Volunteers to Build a Food For The Poor House on Local School Campus

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2012) – What do one of the world's largest car and truck manufacturers, the largest international relief and development organization in the United States, and a Palm Beach County, Fla. school have in common?  The answer – they share a desire to make a difference in the communities in which they serve, here in the United States and abroad.

On Friday, Sept. 28, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the campus of Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla., a dozen General Motors employees will volunteer with students from the school to build a replica of homes given to families in need in Jamaica by Food For The Poor.

“Many members of our work group participate in different types of community service, but Food For The Poor is a ministry our entire team can get behind,” said Tom Thornton, District Manager Aftersales Chevrolet Miami. “We are looking forward to this service opportunity and anticipate that we will have much future opportunity to support the ministry.” 

While GM employees may have a long history of giving back, in 2011 the teamGM Cares volunteer program was formed. All across the United States, teamGM Cares volunteers have assisted with disaster relief efforts and have lent their time to many meaningful projects.

Also in 2011, Saint Andrew’s School joined the Round Square organization as a world member and will host the 'Waves of Change' International Round Square Conference in October 2013. It is only one of 80 schools on five continents to be a part of a program that promotes student and faculty exchange, and international community service, making the Saint Andrew’s campus the ideal location for this collaborative effort.
The replica house will remain on the campus of Saint Andrew’s for seven days, and will be used as a teaching tool to bring awareness to the dire living conditions of destitute families in the Caribbean and Latin America.

“The understanding that we hope our students develop over the course of the week is a heightened sense of empathy toward the lives of those who lack what so many here often take for granted,” said Nicholas Dorn, Director of Student Leadership of Saint Andrew’s School. “Most importantly we hope that everyone who visits the replica house experiences gratitude and develops a desire to help philanthropic initiatives.”

“One of the best ways to educate students or corporations about Food For The Poor is to show them what we do. We can tell them Food For The Poor started out helping a feeding program in Jamaica 30 years (More) ago, and has since grown exponentially, but when we allow them to participate in an initiative like building a  replica of an actual house on a campus like Saint Andrew’s School, the need becomes real – but the solution becomes tangible,” said Robin Mahfood, President and CEO of Food For The Poor.

Please contact Dr. Carlos Barroso, Director of Marketing and Communications at Saint Andrew’s School, about on-campus access for the homebuilding: office (561) 210-2064 or cell (561) 756-0301. The school is located at 3900 Jog Road in Boca Raton, Fla.
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.