New Executive at FFP-Haiti

Food For The Poor-Haiti Names New Executive Director

	Bishop Ogé Beauvoir, the incoming Executive Director/FFP Haiti Office, will be responsible for the charity’s operations within the country and provide a vital link to the organization in the U.S.

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 26, 2015) – The Board of Directors for Food For The Poor-Haiti has named Bishop Ogé Beauvoir as Executive Director/FFP Haiti Office. He will be responsible for the charity’s operations within the country and provide a vital link to the organization in the United States. The appointment is effective on May 1.

Bishop Beauvoir brings a depth of knowledge about the country, having been born there and then serving in the country as a missionary and priest. He was educated in Canada, receiving degrees at the Université de Montreal and the Montréal Diocesan Theological College. Ordained as a priest by the Anglican Church of Canada, he then returned to Haiti where he worked as a leader in education before traveling as a missionary in Africa and the Middle East.

"I look forward to working with FFP to help reduce poverty in Haïti and to empower families,” said Bishop Beauvoir, upon accepting the position.

He is currently Bishop-in-charge of the Northern Region of the Episcopal diocese of Haiti, a role he will relinquish when he begins work with Food For The Poor.

“In collaborating with Bishop Ogé Beauvoir through the church in Haiti, we have seen firsthand how he pours his heart and soul into work on behalf of the poor,” said Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood. “He truly is a man of the people, and as we have walked with him through slums and prisons, we have witnessed his compassion and dedication to improve the lives of the people in his country. We are tremendously pleased to have him join our work at Food For The Poor.”

Bishop Beauvoir will be replacing Kareen Dolce, who has served as executive director of FFP/Haiti since March 2009.

“Madame Dolce has been a blessing to the people of Haiti and to Food For The Poor in one of the most tumultuous times in our experience of serving the country. Her work immediately after the earthquake, and in the rebuilding efforts since then, has been nothing less than heroic,” Mahfood said. “We will always be grateful to her, and we ask that God continue to bless her.”

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

Schools in Jamaica

Food For The Poor Expands
Jamaica 50/50 School-Building Campaign

	Students and teachers of the New Testament Early Childhood Development Center express their gratitude for their new school.
Related Items: Request a Speaker Give the Gift of Literacy Watch Jamaica 50/50 Campaign Launch See Photos of the School

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 26, 2015) – Food For The Poor’s campaign to construct or structurally improve 50 basic schools throughout Jamaica in 50 months has been completed, 18 months ahead of schedule. Thanks to strong corporate and individual support, the “Jamaica 50/50” school-building initiative has been expanded to an additional 25 schools.

New Testament Early Childhood Development Center in St. Catherine, Jamaica, was the 50th basic school in the charity’s Jamaica 50/50 campaign to be completed.

“Food For The Poor’s school-building campaign was a gift from our donors to the people of Jamaica to commemorate the nation's 50th anniversary of independence,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor President/CEO.  “In developing countries, poverty-stricken parents often cannot afford to send their children to school. Food For The Poor’s school-building program works to improve literacy and ensure that the poorest children receive nutritious meals island-wide.”

Food For The Poor donors from Hope Lutheran Church in Bonita Springs, Florida, rallied to raise money to complete New Testament Early Childhood Development Center after they learned about the critical need for schools in Jamaica from Food For The Poor speaker Pastor John Buuck.

Students at Faith Lutheran Middle School and High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, in addition to building a Food For The Poor home, also raised money to assist the students in Jamaica after they heard Pastor Buuck speak.

“Once we learned of Pastor Buuck's goal to build a school, it was determined that if Faith Lutheran surpassed their goal of building a house, the additional funds would be added to his congregation’s goal to build the school,” said Julie Buuck, Director of Student Life at Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School, and also Pastor Buuck’s daughter-in-law. “What a great idea – a school helping to build a school.”

Pastor Buuck attended the school’s dedication ceremony on March 3, and said the new school has made a remarkable difference in the community. He was impressed at how drastically improved the learning conditions were in comparison to those he saw in July 2014 when he helped to select the school.

Others attending the ceremony included Bishop of Montego Bay and Board Member of Food For The Poor, The Very Rev. Burchell McPherson; Jamaica’s Minister of Education, The Honourable Reverend Ronald Thwaites; and Food For The Poor-Jamaica Chairman Andrew Mahfood.

"I want to begin by expressing, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Food For The Poor for its continued support for education,” said Minister Thwaites during the dedication ceremony. “Specifically, we commend the organization for sticking to its commitment to build and upgrade 50 basic schools in 50 months as a gift to Jamaica and Jamaicans for the island's Golden Jubilee.
"You not only said it, you did it. This is in line with the government's overall policy to lift up the weakest in the society," said Minister Thwaites.

"We are so thrilled and happy to have received the 50th school building from Food For The Poor as part of their Jamaica 50/50 Campaign," said Veronica Baker, Principal of New Testament Early Childhood Development Center. "We had no school building in the past. We were behind the church in a space that was not suitable for teaching young children. Now, we have a wonderful building."

For information regarding Food For The Poor’s school-building initiative, or to support the program, please call 954-427-2222 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

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

Donors Build 100K Homes

Food For The Poor Surpasses 100,000 Housing Milestone

	With a new Food For The Poor home, this family in Honduras has received a second chance in life thanks to the charity's generous donors.
Related Items: Learn More about Maudiel’s Story Documentary Illustrates Housing Needs See Photos of Families in their Homes

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 23, 2015) – Food For The Poor’s generous donors have built more than 100,000 housing units for destitute families in the Caribbean and Latin America. The desperate living conditions of the poor inspired Food For The Poor to begin its home building initiative in 1985 in Jamaica.

Food For The Poor’s homes are well-built, safe and secure. These permanent homes not only benefit the families receiving them, but also provide much-needed work for local laborers. With the help of donors, Food For The Poor is on schedule this year to build approximately 8,000 housing units.

Food For The Poor donors constructed 7,367 housing units in 2014 and gifted them to destitute families. The greatest number of homes were built in Jamaica (2,057 housing units), Honduras (1,812), Haiti (1,774), and Nicaragua (1,594).

Special housing matches have fueled Food For The Poor’s ability to help change the dire circumstances of destitute families. Through the end of 2015, generous friends of Food For The Poor have offered to match any gift received to build homes in Nicaragua, Honduras and Jamaica. This means that every gift received to build a home in these countries will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

“The poor live in very dangerous situations and struggle with overwhelming circumstances every day,” said Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor President/CEO. “It is difficult for many of us to imagine what it must be like to be surrounded by rain-soaked, muddy floors, and walls made of plastic on a daily basis. To escape a life of poverty, destitute families need a proper roof over their heads, clean water and sanitation.”

Click here to watch a photo documentary that illustrates the critical need for housing that exists in developing countries. 

Dilapidated shacks made of scraps of wood, metal, plastic and cardboard offer little protection from the elements, insects and rodents. As a result, illness and disease are rampant, especially among those who are most vulnerable — the young and elderly. In addition, the poor who live in these conditions are particularly devastated by natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes.

Last year, Food For The Poor donors built then 4-year-old Maudiel and his family a new, solid home in Nicaragua. By replacing the family’s primitive shack, which was strung together with dried palm fronds and ripped plastic tarps, Maudiel can now sleep peacefully through the night. He no longer wakes scared when the wind rattles the roof, or worries that the rain will turn the floor into mud. His new Food For The Poor house keeps him safe. Learn more about Maudiel’s story here.

In 1995, Food For The Poor-Haiti began a housing program and began building homes in Cite Soleil. Since then, 11,068 double-unit homes have been built in Haiti, 5,015 of them since the earthquake in January 2010. These sturdy homes provide the poor with shelter, safety and hope for the future.

A gift of $3,200 will build a single-unit home with sanitation; a gift of $6,400 will build a double-unit home with sanitation and a water component. In countries like Haiti, where the average household has seven members, Food For The Poor builds only double-unit homes by combining two single-unit donations.

For information regarding Food For The Poor’s home building initiative, or to support the program, please call 954-427-2222 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/home.

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

World Water Day

Every Child Should Have Access to Clean Water

	Dania is often sick from drinking the contaminated river water, but it is her only water source.
Related Item: Watch Dania's Search for Water

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 19, 2015) – Locating and maintaining a fresh water source is no easy task for the poor living in undeveloped communities throughout the world. But it’s especially difficult for children, young girls in particular, who often are assigned the task of collecting water for their families. In many cases, children must walk miles to gather water that may appear clean, but is filled with harmful and potentially deadly bacteria.

Millions around the world will be celebrating the 22nd annual World Water Day on March 22, which began in 1993 to bring attention to a different water issue every year. The 2015 theme for World Water Day is “Water and Sustainable Development.”  Water is at the core of sustainable development, reducing poverty, stimulating economic growth and environmental sustainability. 

Clean water prevents diseases and provides young girls with an opportunity to go to school and get an education.

Near the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal, located northwest of Managua, lives Dania. She’s a little girl who walks down a steep mountain every day to collect water from hand-dug watering holes near the banks of Rio Coco River. The water Dania collects is contaminated with bacteria and parasites that often make her sick, but it’s her only water source.

“Most of us would never collect water from a local canal or nearby pond for daily usage. We certainly wouldn’t drink it or give it to our children. The thought is incomprehensible, but for many throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, their water source isn’t much better,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Proper sanitation and access to clean drinking water should to be available for everyone. Food For The Poor is committed to providing the poor we serve with this precious resource.”

Since 1998, Food For The Poor has completed more than 1,943 water projects, which include wells, cisterns, tanks, distribution systems, and water treatment units throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

To view a short video of Dania’s story, please click www.foodforthepoor.org/water.

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