CEPUDO Partner Joining Food For The Poor to Pack Meals for Ukraine
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (July 14, 2022) CEPUDO President Linda Coello has witnessed firsthand how MannaPack rice meals have saved the lives of families in desperate need in her own country of Honduras. When she heard about Ukraine’s plight and Food For The Poor’s mission to pack meals for families there, she knew she wanted to be part of it.
Coello, founder of CEPUDO, a longstanding FFTP partner in Honduras, will join volunteers at Join The Pack Ukraine on Saturday, July 23, at FAU Arena in Boca Raton.
“Feed My Starving Children and Food For The Poor have done so much for my country that is the least I can do,” Coello said. “I really feel it in my heart to go and pack these meals for the people of Ukraine.”
Last year, the charity shipped 40 containers of MannaPack meals to Honduras, or the equivalent of nearly 11 million meals. Through the first six months of this year, 21 containers have been sent, or 5.7 million meals.
So, Coello understands the lifegiving, hope-giving possibilities of providing these meals.
“Families in Ukraine are struggling with so many things – hunger, pain, loss of family, loss of friends, loss of their homes, fear of death because they don’t know what’s going to happen because of the war,” Coello said.
FFTP needs about 500 more volunteers and is counting on South Florida churches, businesses, community groups and like-minded individuals ages 5 and older to pack meals at Join The Pack Ukraine.
Three packing sessions are available including: 9 to 11 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. All participants must register in advance.
“If I can give a little time and fill my hands packing these MannaPack meals, it’s sending a little bit of love to them and letting them know that people care for them,” Coello said. “Just knowing that people care for you, that’s more than even the food itself.”
MannaPack is a specially formulated rice meal packed with vitamins and essential nutrients. In the countries where FFTP serves, the meals are like manna from heaven for children and families who are starving.
At Join The Pack Ukraine, volunteers will assist with scooping, spooning, weighing, sealing and boxing the MannaPack meals in a fun, high-energy, team-building environment.
In addition to packing meals, the event will raise funds to cover the cost of shipping the meals and providing ongoing humanitarian aid in Ukraine and surrounding areas where refugees have fled.
In March, just weeks after the invasion, FFTP announced it was working through longtime partner Feed My Starving Children to help the people of Ukraine and provide support for food aid consisting of MannaPack meals.
The conflict in Ukraine began in 2014 but ratcheted up into a full-blown war when Russia invaded the country on February 24. Feed My Staving Children has been working with Mission Eurasia, a group of more than 3,500 pastors. In the last eight years, they have established a foothold and delivered more than 12.5 million meals to this area of the world.
In June, Mission Eurasia’s Chisinau, Moldova, refugee assistance center welcomed two containers filled with MannaPack from Feed My Starving Children. Thousands of families come to the center every month to receive lifesaving food.
Svitlana arrived with her two children at the beginning of the war. Her husband stayed behind, hoping to find work in Ukraine to provide for his family. She is grateful for the food box she received that included MannaPack.
“Thank you so very much for the food package,” she said. “Because of this food, we have what we need to meet our basic needs. And it’s also very encouraging for us to have the support from you.”
FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said MannaPack meals are lifesaving and critical for those in extreme need.
“This is outside our normal programming, but so many people have asked how we as an organization and how they can help,” Raine said. “The need is so great. Our donors want to contribute. And Feed My Starving Children has built this incredible network that gives us confidence that our help is going to the people who need it the most.”
Longtime donors Gerry and Marilyn Ogier, Bachrodt Automotive Group, Hormel, ResourceOne, Seaboard Marine, Sonitrol, and Goya have signed on to sponsor the event.
For more information on Join The Pack Ukraine, including additional sponsorship opportunities, call 888-404-4248. Register for the event at www.FoodForThePoor.org/jointhepack.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Communications Associate
954-471-0928 – mobile
[email protected]
