Pope Francis Village

Rockford Residents Poised to Build
Their Biggest Village Yet in Haiti

	Jeff Lemke traveled from his hometown of Cary, Illinois, to Dumas, Haiti, to meet the residents who will directly benefit from the proceeds raised at this year's annual gala.
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Aug. 8, 2014) – The Hope for Haitians Board and Food For The Poor invite you to attend the 13th annual An Evening in the Tropics, Saturday, Sept. 6 at Giovanni’s Restaurant & Convention Center, 610 N. Bell School Road, Rockford, Illinois.

The Hope for Haitians Board has set an ambitious goal for participants of An Evening in the Tropics gala supporters. This year’s proposal includes building new homes for 90 families in Dumas, Haiti, complete with kitchenettes, latrines, and solar lanterns. The village will be named the Pope Francis Friendship Village. Additionally, the planned community center and a cassava bakery will be available to the more than 1,500 residents who reside in the area. The Association For The Development of Dumas (ADD) will assist farmers in marketing and selling the products produced at this facility. 

“So many of the faithful gave up more than chocolate this past Lent,” said Tom Lorden, a Founding Trustee of the Hope for Haitians Board of Directors. “Their sacrificial giving is allowing Hope for Haitians to help more families than ever.” 

Ten residents from the Rockford/Chicago area traveled to Haiti February 24-27 with Food For The Poor, to meet the destitute families in Dumas that are relying on them to make this year’s An Evening in the Tropics gala a success.

Two of the travelers, Pat Bachrodt and Greg McQueary, also are members of the Hope for Haitians Board.

“It was certainly one of the most memorable few days of my life,” said McQueary. “I have already taken steps in an effort to find additional contributions.”

Additional members of the Hope for Haitians Board include: the Rev. David Beauvais, Virginia Canavan, William Clancy, Patti Cottrell, Michael Delany, Bill Kalma, Danny Lorden, Tom and Nancy Lorden, Bob McLaughlin, Philip Nicolosi, Patti Rangel, Peter Roche, Andy Schultheis, and the Rev. Geoff Wirth.

Master of ceremonies for this year’s An Evening in the Tropics is veteran broadcast journalist Mike Robinson. The evening also will feature a cocktail reception, silent auction, and formal dinner with friends and members of the surrounding communities. Bidding on silent auction prizes such as electronics, jewelry, vacations, golf and dining packages offer opportunities for guests to shop and support the cause.

The Most Reverend David J. Malloy, the ninth Catholic Bishop of Rockford, will deliver the invocation.

For additional information about sponsorship opportunities and tickets, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/rockford.

Travelers on the February trip to Haiti included Pat Bachrodt, Colin Gregory, Justin Kegley, Jeff Lemke, Greg McQueary, Pat Meyer, Sr. Rita Mary Ann Phalen, Miguel “Mike” Saltijeral, Jr., Rev. Tim Seigel, and the Rev. John “Steve” Stephen St. Jules.

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.

Haiti village for Fr. Martin

Virginia Parish Builds 10th Haiti Village in Honor of Beloved Priest

	Fr. Richard Martin's nephew, Eric Martin, shown here with baby, Grayson, and wife, Nicole, attended the celebration of life for the priest at Food For The Poor headquarters in Coconut Creek, Fla. Others, from left, are donors Tu Le and Vincent Lam, President/CEO Robin Mahfood, Food For The Poor Projects Specialist Jim McDaniel, and Fr. Bill Korpi of Nativity Parish. Photo/Food For The Poor

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (June 11, 2014) –Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood accepted a donation today from Church of the Nativity in Burke, Virginia, that will build an entire village near Grand Boulage, Haiti. The village will be the 10th built by Nativity and it will be named Good Shepherd Village in memory of Fr. Richard Martin, who worked with the charity for 16 years through Operation Starfish.

The check was presented at a celebration of life service for Fr. Martin, who died in May at the age of 74. He had traveled to Haiti many times with Food For The Poor, helping thousands of Haitian citizens have a better life. Staff members remembered him through songs, scripture readings and stories.

“When I first met Dick in 2000, he said, ‘You know, we will have a long road to work together.’ He told me he would pray for me, and I said I would pray for him,” Mahfood said. “He had a real love for people, and we saw it everywhere we went with him. He understood the poor. In our lobby, we have a wall with four Servants of the Poor. The fifth is going to be Fr. Richard Martin.”

Fr. Bill Korpi, a friend of Fr. Martin’s for almost 30 years and a fellow priest at Nativity Parish, hand-delivered the donation and reminisced about his good friend, drawing laughter from those gathered to honor their friend.

“A few days after Father went home to God, I had an experience. A young woman walked into the office, almost paralyzed and trembling. Tears were pouring out of her eyes. I knew what Dick would do, so I moved out of my comfort zone, I approached her and held out my arms,” Korpi said. “He was your best friend, wasn’t he? You loved him, didn’t you? He told you he loved you, didn’t he? I told her that he had told thousands of people that – and he meant it every time!

“When thousands of people passed through to pay their respects to him at our church, I reminded the young seminarians that the crowds came not because they loved him, but because he first loved them,” Korpi said. “I reminded them they must do the same, even the ones they don’t like – especially the ones they don’t like.”

The celebration included Fr. Martin’s nephew Eric, his wife, Nicole, and their baby, Grayson. The family had decided that instead of flowers, donations should go to Operation Starfish to help the poor in Haiti. Those donations made up almost a quarter of the gift that will make possible houses for those who have had no shelter, food for those who have known only hunger, opportunities for jobs, and income for those who have had no hope.

“We were both very honored to be able to represent the Martin family today,” Eric Martin said. “It was amazing to see the number of lives that Uncle Dick touched through his work with Food For The Poor. It will be a memory that is shared for a lifetime. We will never forget the feeling of being welcomed and loved by Uncle Dick’s Food For The Poor family. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a memory…that lasts a lifetime.”

The village in Grand Boulage will be built out over the course of three years, and will combine the latest technology, construction development programs, and community development programs. The “showcase” village ultimately will contain 120 houses, solar lighting, a community center, a health clinic, agriculture projects, and a kindergarten. The residents will receive life-skills training, to ensure that they can take best advantage of all the programs offered.

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.

Couple to Build Village

Ellie and Marv Walworth speak with a staff member who helps to care for 36 boys who live at the Christian Boys Home in Kingston, Jamaica. The Walworths, longtime supporters of Food For The Poor, took their first mission trip to the Caribbean country with the organization in July and will be building a village consisting of 39 two-room houses with the relief and development organization in McCooks Pen this fall.

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 1, 2013) – Jamaica is famous for its beautiful beaches and vistas. But head inland, about an hour’s drive from the capital city of Kingston into St. Catherine’s Parish between Spanish Town and Old Harbour, and you will find McCooks Pen. The rural community is just off a busy roadway, and is a world away from what beckons visitors to this tropical paradise.

Hidden on a back dirt road, nestled between overgrown weeds and a muddy creek, is a row of dilapidated houses. In the doorway of one of the unsound structures, stood an enthusiastic 22-year-old woman who dreams of attending college. Vanessa Brown talked about what life is like for her and the nine other family members living in the tiny space. She spoke candidly with Marv and Ellie Walworth, who were listening intently to her every word.

“Life here is hard, very hard,” said Brown. “But, I will not let my living conditions define who I am as a person. I refuse to give up on myself.”

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The Walworths, longtime supporters of Food For The Poor, took their first mission trip to the Caribbean country with the organization in July. While there, the couple got to witness true destitution as they visited with families in McCooks Pen.

“The attitude of the people here is truly fascinating. They may not have much, materially, yet they are amazingly optimistic about the future and tend to see good where most would see misery,” said Marv.

Moved by what they saw and heard, the Walworths have decided to build a village of 39 two-room houses. Each house will have a living space, a personal sanitation unit with a flush toilet and shower, kitchenette and access to electrical power. The village also will have a community center, which will be built in a cleared out sugar cane field in the center of town.

“Words can’t begin to express the gratitude we feel for the gift of opportunity the Walworths have decided to give to these families who are in desperate need,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “We understand that we cannot fix all the problems in Jamaica, but we are making life-changing improvements one family at a time with God’s help, and with the help of our donors. The Walworths’ legacy will live on for generations to come for those families in the McCooks Pen community.”

Married 51 years, the Walworths have four adult children and seven grandchildren; he is a retired electrical mechanical engineer and she is a retired elementary school teacher from Grand Junction, Colo. The couple learned about Food For The Poor when a speaker from the organization spoke at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church six years ago. No strangers to giving back, the Walworth family has volunteered and opened up their home to help others within their own community, but felt the calling they needed to do more.


“Our family background is one of service. Both of our mothers have led us to have a spirit of service, and we have done the same with our children,” said Ellie. “Here in America there are services available for those who avail themselves of them, but in Jamaica they don’t have the big umbrella of social services, they just don’t have that. That’s why we wanted to help the poorest of the poor.”

Construction of what will be the “The Walworth Family Village” is expected to begin in the fall in McCooks Pen, St. Catherine, Jamaica, and is expected to take eight months to complete. Marv says he plans to volunteer some of his time to help in the building of the village.

“One of the biggest things that impressed me is the use of the local people in the building of these construction projects – it’s fantastic,” said Marv.

It also is Marv and Ellie’s desire that their children and their grandchildren join them in Jamaica when the village is completed and presented to the families. The Walworths believe their gift to these families living in extreme poverty is symbolic of Jesus’ words, “As often as you did it to one of the least of My brothers and sisters, you did it to Me.” (Matt. 25:40)


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.
                                                         

Village of peace honors son, brother, friend

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (June 8, 2012) – Yeshai Fields was a young man of principle. His family and friends say he was a man who lived with the goal of helping people from all walks of life. So when they lost him in his late 20s, they turned to the international relief and development agency Food For The Poor to help create a memorial to him that would be a reminder of his magical smile and loving ways. This memorial was building a Village of Peace in Nicaragua.

Yeshai Fields

That village in San Agustin, Quezalguaque, Nicaragua, currently is a community of 300 people who live in extreme poverty, battling daily against hunger, disease and the rodents that share the garbage-strewn landscape. It is this community that his family has chosen to transform with homes, water wells, livestock, crops and a community center with a medical clinic.

They are more than halfway to their goal of making it a reality through several fundraisers held by family and friends. The Yeshai Fields Village of Peace will be dedicated this fall.

“The memory of Yeshai Fields will live on. Yeshai always dreamed of providing for the underprivileged. May this tribute and our generosity be in honor of Yeshai’s relentless vision to help bring happiness to others,” his family wrote in an appeal to friends. 

His mother, Nava Fields, said the most important thing in Yeshai’s life was to be generous, and that he was especially compassionate toward the homeless and tried to help them. “He did it because he felt it was the right thing to do, and he wanted to do more. He would always say,’I will make you proud of me,’ and this is one way that I can show him how very proud I was of him,” she said.

Born in Israel in 1982, Yeshai was the younger of twin boys, and was raised on a sheep farm until the age of 5, when his family immigrated to Coral Springs, Fla. When he died, he had graduated from University of Miami’s Law School and was looking for a position as a public defender, with the goal of helping people less fortunate than himself.

“We are so deeply grateful that Yeshai’s family reached out from their grief to create such a beautiful memorial to this amazing young man,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor.  Speaking at a gathering of his friends and family, Aloma went on to say, “You’re beautiful because you came here tonight to really save lives. And that was important to Yeshai, and I thank you for continuing his legacy. From his passing will come new life.”

There will be 24 two-room homes in the village, providing safety and dignity to people who have known only the fragile shelter of plastic, some sticks and, perhaps, some tin. The mission of the group is to develop a self-sustaining village that will be able to take care of its own needs, and provide a life-transforming environment that will reflect Yeshai’s spirit of love and camaraderie.

“We always wanted to help people, and we traveled for a couple of years in developing countries where we got insight into what poverty really is,” said Nadav Fields, Yeshai’s twin brother. “We would take our shirts off our back, and give them whatever we had. This project fits everything my brother and I worked to do, and it is exactly how he would want us to remember him.”

Those interested in helping bring this dream to fruition can visit FoodForThePoor.org/yeshai to make a donation to the project. Checks also can be mailed to Food For The Poor, 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, Fla., 33073, using the source code 83407 in the memo field.

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.

Contact:
Kathy Skipper
Director of Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6614
kathys@foodforthepoor.org

Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II on track to fundraising goal

Thanks to Boca Grande’s Hope for Haitians Committee, dozens of Haitian families left homeless by the 2010 earthquake are one step closer to leaving the tent cities of Port-au-Prince and moving into their own sturdy homes.

“We cannot fathom what life is like for families living under such dire conditions, not for one year, but for nearly two and a half years,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “Words cannot express the gratitude we have for the Boca Grande Committee and for their continued support. On behalf of the Haitian families who’ll soon be moving into the village – thank you.”

Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II, which is located in the small farming community of Michaud near Croix-des-Bouquets just northwest of Port-au-Prince, is more than 85 percent complete and some families have started to move in. The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee is still raising money for the project through Food For The Poor.

The new village will have:
•    40 earthquake resistant two-room homes with personal sanitation units and kitchenettes
•    Solar-powered lanterns for each family
•    Four solar-powered street lamps
•    A community center
•    80 goats
•    200 fruit-bearing trees
•    A water filtration unit

“The people of Boca Grande have been so very generous to our Haiti project, and we’re very thankful for their support,” said Ben Scott, chair of the Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee. “However, we still have a little ways to go, but I am confident we will receive the necessary donations to complete this village.”

Food For The Poor’s goal is to build 12,000 homes in 2012 for the people in the countries it serves.  The organization has asked individuals and businesses to participate in a matching fund program to encourage donations towards that goal.  As a result of this program, funds have been allocated for the construction of 10 two-room homes for Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II in Michaud, Haiti.

The first Friendship Village built by the committee through Food For The Poor is located in the northwest part of the country in Pierre Payen.  Scott and his wife Louise traveled to Haiti for the dedication of a school and the second phase of that village last November. While in Haiti, they took a tour of one of the makeshift tent cities and met some of the future recipients of the homes in Michaud.  See what Scott saw while touring the tent cities.

Committee members include: Ben and Louise Scott, the Rev. Gary Beatty, the Rev. Brian Brightly, the Rev. Jerome Carosella, the Rev. Read Heydt, George and Lois Castrucci, Patricia Chapman, Ray and Iliene Corcoran, Charlie and Florita Field, Evelyn Finnegan, Lou and Corie Fusz, Stephen and Susan Jansen, Tom and Nancy Lorden, Colvin and Madelaine McCrady, John and Pauline Mendez and Peter and Elsa Soderberg
Make a secure online donation towards the completion of Boca Grande’s Friendship Village II.

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. To learn more, please visit www.foodforthepoor.org.

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

American girl, welcomed home in Haiti, plans to build more homes

In November, 12-year-old Rachel Wheeler and NBC’s Nightly News Chief Medical Editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, were welcomed to “Rachel’s Village” in the coastal village of Kay Piti in Leogane, Haiti. Residents of the village greeted Rachel like their favorite daughter – clapping and singing songs of praise as the sound of musical instruments filled the air.

The purpose of the trip with the nonprofit Food For The Poor was two-fold – to solidify plans for the expansion of Rachel’s village, and to meet the students who will benefit from the community’s new school.

“I feel that housing and education projects are important because those are the main elements of being successful,” said Rachel Wheeler, who was named one of America’s “Top 11 Kids Who Made A Difference In 2011” by The Huffington Post in December 2011. “Haiti needs help – a lot of help. I am trying to do that. I love going to my village – but the part I don’t love is seeing tent houses on the side of the road with starving children crying as they eat mud cookies that their mother bakes them to ease their hunger pain. That is the sad part of Haiti – the part I am trying to change.”

With the support of her classmates at Zion Lutheran Christian School in Deerfield Beach, Fla. and her hometown Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce, Rachel hosts bake sales, sells potholders and speaks on behalf of the poor to collect funds to build desperately needed homes. With land now available, her goal is to build homes for an additional 20 families in Rachel’s Village.

“When I go to Haiti and to my village I see so many happy faces, and little children running around and playing with each other,” said Rachel, a sixth grader. “I want to change Haiti for the next generation of people – to let them have a place to live and have a family that is happy, healthy and safe.”

During Rachel’s first trip to Haiti in May 2011, she decided to build a school for the community after realizing that not all children are able to attend school. The conditions of the improvished school where the students were attending shocked Rachel.

“I saw poverty and really horrible conditions of health,” said Rachel. “The children were living in makeshift homes built with things they find in the trash. It differed from my classes in the United States in many ways, such as the way we learn, and the things we have. For example in some of my classes we have digital white boards, and we have online classes – but in Haiti, most of the time they don’t have chalkboards.”

Prior to the earthquake, 250 students from kindergarten to the sixth grade were registered at this school. Today classrooms are partitioned by bed sheets and the crude structure floods when it rains. Rusted sheet-metal, pieces of wood and blue tarps offer students little protection from the weather. The new school will be inaugurated in the spring.

“We chose to donate to Rachel’s school because we were encouraged by Rachel's determination to help improve the lives of the people of Haiti,” said Chesney Hellmuth, a junior at The University of Mississippi in response to her family’s charitable contribution. “It is very important to give back because God entrusts us with His money to use to benefit others who are in need.”

Chesney plans to attend the school’s inauguration in the spring with her twin sister Ashton and their parents. This will be the second time the twins have traveled to Haiti, and they look forward to meeting the South Florida native, Rachel.

“Having the opportunity to attend college has showed us the value of an education and the importance of helping others to obtain an education,” said Ashton. “We are proud to be a part of Rachel's project and we are blessed to have the opportunity to meet such an amazing girl.”

To support Rachel’s building initiative, tax-deductible donations can be made through the charity’s secure website at www.FoodForThePoor.org/rachel. Donations can also be mailed to Food For The Poor, 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073. Please make checks payable to Food For The Poor and include the special source code “SC# 82561” to accurately route your donation to the house-building effort.

Food For The Poor, the 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 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.

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