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FFTP Expands Venezuela Earthquake Response as Community Support Grows
Charity Prepares First Shipments While Working Through Trusted Humanitarian Partners
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (July 2, 2026) — Food For The Poor (FFTP) is ramping up its emergency response to the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, with its first international relief shipments now on the way. The charity is coordinating with carefully vetted partners to help deliver urgently needed assistance to families affected by one of the nation’s deadliest natural disasters.
As donations continue arriving from individuals, businesses, churches and community organizations across South Florida, the charity is preparing emergency shipments that include hygiene kits, MannaPack meals from partner Feed My Starving Children, diapers, medical equipment and other critically needed relief supplies. Additional shipments are being planned as the response continues to grow.
Because conditions inside Venezuela remain fluid, FFTP is coordinating closely with trusted humanitarian organizations that have longstanding experience serving vulnerable communities.
“For 44 years, Food For The Poor has responded to disasters by working through trusted partners who know their communities and understand how to reach families in need,” said FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine. “In complex emergencies like this one, our responsibility is to move with urgency while ensuring assistance is delivered safely, responsibly and through partners we know and trust.”
Support for the relief effort continues to grow throughout South Florida’s Hispanic community, where businesses, civic organizations and volunteers have mobilized to help families affected by the disaster.
Among the largest community contributions has been the response from PANNA Restaurants, whose customers and employees have donated more than 40 pallets of emergency supplies, including food, diapers, hygiene items, flashlights, tarps and other essential relief items, to help families recovering from the earthquakes.
“What we’re seeing across South Florida is remarkable,” Raine said. “Businesses like PANNA Restaurants, churches, civic organizations and generous individuals are stepping forward to help people they’ve never met. That’s exactly what Food For The Poor has been bringing together for 44 years.”
Volunteers have already assembled thousands of emergency hygiene kits at FFTP’s Coconut Creek headquarters, with additional packing events continuing throughout the coming weeks. The kits will be included in upcoming relief shipments for earthquake survivors.
“We took the time to find the right organization, the trusted organization, to make sure our efforts and donations would be delivered,” said Mary Sol Gonzalez, president/CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Chamber of Commerce. “That’s why we partnered with Food For The Poor. Because of the long-standing work they’ve done in times like this, they are the ideal partner for us.”
For many volunteers, the response is deeply personal.
“I came with my daughter, my wife, my mother-in-law, and my father-in-law because this tragedy has touched our family personally,” said volunteer Freddy Irausquin, CEO of BIZMASOFT and a member of the Hispanic Heritage Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors. “We wanted to do something to help the people of Venezuela.”
As relief supplies continue arriving, FFTP is expanding volunteer opportunities beginning next week. Volunteers will pack hygiene kits weekdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 3:30 p.m. for at least the next two weeks.
FFTP is accepting donations of nonperishable food and hygiene supplies with expiration dates of at least one year, at its Coconut Creek warehouse, 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon.
Financial contributions to support Food For The Poor’s Venezuela earthquake response may be made at foodforthepoor.org/helpvenezuela.
Supporters also may purchase requested relief supplies through the charity’s Amazon wish list at foodforthepoor.org/venezuelalist
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the United States, is committed to facilitating paths out of poverty and transforming lives. As an interdenominational Christian ministry, we help families across Latin America and the Caribbean. Our efforts span urgent humanitarian relief and long-term development – from emergency aid and hunger alleviation to education, housing, and economic empowerment. We follow a distinctive approach that integrates faith, multi-sector strategies, and trusted partnerships. Whenever possible, we strive to work at the community level, partnering with local leaders and residents to co-create sustainable solutions that address the multi-dimensional nature of poverty. For more information, please visit foodforthepoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Communications
954-471-0928
[email protected]
