Orlando Residents to Present Findings from Haiti at Annual Gala
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 26, 2011) — Residents from the Orlando area are committed to rescuing Haitian families who call garbage-filled swamps “home.” Central Florida residents interested in Haiti’s rebuilding process are encouraged to attend Food For The Poor’s 12th annual fundraising event, A Celebration of Hope, Nov. 12, at Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa. Proceeds from the annual Orlando gala have built homes for more than 586 families.
“The impact of sheltering just one poor family reverberates from the heart of that family directly to the heart of God,” said Lynne Nasrallah. “I never tire of seeing a rusty tin shack being replaced by a sturdy Food For The Poor home. I have witnessed many fathers’ hands trembling with emotion and many mothers’ tears streaming from their eyes as they are given keys to their new front door. This scene is ‘a celebration of hope’ – a hope that tells the poor that God has indeed remembered His People.”
The evening will include live music, a silent auction, house rally, dancing, and a memorable dinner with friends. Bidding on silent auction prizes offers opportunities for guests to shop and donate to the cause at the same time. Prizes include exclusive art and collectibles from the Caribbean and Latin America, designer jewelry, vacations, golf and dining packages.
Event proceeds will be used to construct critically needed homes and water projects in Haiti. Last year’s event raised enough funds to build 42 two-room Food For The Poor homes in Haiti.
For additional information regarding A Celebration of Hope event, sponsorship levels, and tickets, available at $150 per person, please call 1-888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/orlando.
A Celebration of Hope event sponsor, Winter Park Construction and their staff, will build a prefabricated, 12-by-12 foot house in the ballroom, to afford guests the opportunity to appreciate the significance a modest house makes in the lives of the truly destitute. For $6,400, Food For The Poor can build a safe, permanent two-room house with access to water and sanitation. A certificate of appreciate will be mailed to donors along with a photo of the house and housing recipients.
Committee members include: Anibal & Maritza Beltran, Linda Bonnewitz, The del Campo Family, Janice Chong, Cynthia Hawkins, Jackie Heaps, Dr. Aida Jimenez and Isabel Jimenez, Kathy Kinchla, Donna Larson, Tom Murphy, Paul Mylod, Desirae Nasrallah, Nicole Nasrallah, Robin Neel, Nancy Padilla, Lisa Padilla, Patricia Perfito, Amira Rivera, Diane Rogers, Roseline and Pelfrine Saint-Fort, The Santana Family, Marie Schwarz, Kelly Wilkes, Jean and Donna Wilson, and Holly Wilson.
In September, two Orlando residents traveled to Haiti on a Food For The Poor mission trip to witness first hand the conditions of the people and to see how the nonprofit continues to improve lives and living conditions throughout the country. The visitors traveled through swamps, blessed Emmanuel Village V, visited a home for handicapped children and the neonatal unit at Bernard Mevs Hospital, and learned how sustainable initiatives empower villages and increase in-country production of food. These initiatives include tilapia ponds, chicken rearing and animal husbandry projects.
“As pilgrims with Food For The Poor, we begin to personally understand the command: Love one another,” said Nasrallah. “We show our love by the way we look into the eyes of the poor, or by the way we greet them or by the way we clasp their hand. This love lends value to our action.”
Food For The Poor, 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.