National FFA donates half a million meals to Haiti

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Nov. 8, 2012) – Thanks to the generosity of the National Future Farmers of America, the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor was able to ship half a million rice casserole meals to Haiti just one week after Hurricane Sandy left 54 dead and destroyed 70 percent of the country’s subsistence agricultural crops.

The bags were packed by volunteers and contain soy protein, dried vegetables and spices and provide nutritious food for four to six people, when mixed with boiling water. Through the efforts of caring donors, more than 16 million such meals have been shipped since January 2012 to countries served by Food For The Poor.

“Food insecurity is something all of us are seeing in our local communities more than ever before. We believe FFA can make a difference, and we envision a world where hunger will be a thing of the past,” said National FFA Chief Executive Officer W. Dwight Armstrong. “This was the largest single service event the National FFA Organization has ever conducted. More than 10,000 people gave their time and energy over two-and-a-half days right in the middle of our national convention, including students, teachers, staff and sponsors.”

The donation comes at a time when Hurricane Sandy’s damage has left Haiti in danger of a severe food crisis, putting hundreds of thousands of lives at risk. Sixty-seven pallets of meals went out immediately to Port-au-Prince. “This beautiful gift of food literally will save the lives of children and their families who had very little before the storm, and now have absolutely nothing,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “I find it especially meaningful that these generous donors have not only packed these meals, but are committing their futures to finding solutions for feeding a growing global population.”

Three more pallets of the meals will be shipped next week with other necessary supplies to Cap-Haitien, where heavy rains on Thursday night reportedly resulted in the deaths of some infants and 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 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. 

For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.