Food For The Poor Releases 2012 Annual Report, Marking Another Year of Saving Lives, Transforming Communities, Renewing Hope

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (April 22, 2013) – Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the nation’s largest international relief and development agency, has issued its 2012 annual report. For 31 years, the charity’s purpose has been to save lives, transform communities and renew hope throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

Food For The Poor has provided in excess of $10 billion worth of aid to the poor (more than half of which was provided in the last five years), while maintaining operating expenses under 5 percent to ensure that more than 95 percent of donations go directly toward programs that help the poor.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Isaac brought an enormous amount of destruction to the Caribbean, once again requiring an extraordinary level of relief from Food For The Poor. The U.N. reports that the back-to-back natural disasters decimated between 40 and 90 percent of Haiti’s crops. As a result, approximately 1.5 million Haitians are at risk of starvation.

The World Bank states that international food prices remain very high, exacerbating food insecurity.

“Our donors in 2012 achieved amazing transformation for the poor,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “But many are still hungry and living in inhumane conditions. We are asking for everyone’s help to give what they can to prevent more suffering – as we stretch our charity’s ability to get food and other critical supplies to those who need them the most.”

Other highlights from Food For The Poor’s 2012 Annual Report:

• Fifty-nine fishing village initiatives, tilapia ponds, fruit tree planting projects, animal husbandry and agricultural programs provided food and income, which helped to create self-sustaining communities.
• Food For The Poor continued to provide clean water, build schools, training centers, and clinics, and to support nursing homes and orphanages.
• The charity built 6,805 housing units in 2012 – bringing the total to more than 84,000 since 1982. In Haiti, since January 2010, Food For The Poor has built 3,668 permanent two-room homes with sanitation units.
• The relief and development organization shipped 609 trailers of medicines and medical supplies and 531 trailers of educational supplies.
• More than 30.1 million pounds of rice, 8.1 million pounds of beans, 28.8 million pounds of canned foods and other life-sustaining foods were delivered to the hungry.

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.

Jennifer Leigh Oates
Public Relations
(954) 427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]