Jamaica's New Consul General

	(L to R) Dale Jones, Deputy Consul General; Franz Hall, Jamaica's Consul General to Miami; and Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor's President/CEO.
Related Item: Register for the 5K Walk/Run

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 24, 2013) – Food For The Poor’s President/CEO met with Jamaica’s new Consul General to Miami at the charity’s headquarters in Coconut Creek, Fla., Tuesday to discuss how the Jamaican Diaspora could continue to support the nonprofit’s initiatives. 

“Food For The Poor reaches into every aspect of Jamaican life and maintains a commitment to aiding Jamaica’s poor,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor’s President/CEO, as he thanked Consul General Franz Hall for meeting with Food For The Poor representatives within weeks of starting his new appointment.

Mahfood and Hall agreed that the key to breaking the cycle of poverty is education. In celebration of Jamaica’s 50 years of independence in 2012, Food For The Poor committed to build or improve 50 schools in 50 months across the island. This campaign is ahead of schedule, with 17 more schools to be completed.

“Food For The Poor’s Jamaica 50 Campaign is creating avenues for teachers to deliver their craft,” said Hall, after he learned that the charity also pays to train the teachers.

Hall pledged to show his support for Food For The Poor’s 2013 5K Walk/Run For Hunger, which will be led by Jamaican Olympic medal winner Yohan Blake on Saturday, Nov. 2, at T.Y. (Topeekeegee Yugnee) Park in Hollywood, Fla. Hall and Jamaican Diaspora members will walk or run to raise money to feed starving children and celebrate afterward with Blake. Last year approximately one thousand participants were motivated to cross the finish line by Blake and Jason Martinez, co-anchor for WPLG-TV ABC Local 10 Morning News and Local 10 News at Noon.

For more information about the 5K Walk/Run For Hunger, please call 954-427-2222, ext. 6854. Registration starts at 7 a.m., the walk/run begins at 8 a.m. and the awards ceremony is at 9 a.m. Parking is free. To participate, you can register and donate online at www.FoodForThePoor.org/walk. A generous donor has agreed to match every dollar raised with an additional dollar’s worth of food.

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.