FFTP Pushes to Meet Goal of Providing 10 Million Meals for Vulnerable Families
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (August 18, 2022) Food For The Poor is closer to meeting its goal of providing 10 million meals to families in need in the Caribbean and Latin America, thanks to generous donors who responded to the call for help during the charity’s 3rd annual National Celebration – We Are One virtual event on Aug. 11.
The hour-long event, which took viewers on a journey of prayer, transformation and hope, was livestreamed from the charity’s Coconut Creek headquarters.
A special gift-matching challenge means every dollar donated was matched with a dollar’s worth of food, making donors’ gifts from the event go even further. The results so far are enough funds to provide almost 9.6 million meals.
Donations can be made by going to: www.FoodForThePoor.org/one.
As FFTP marks its 40th anniversary this year, FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said the charity has stood as a beacon of hope for families living in poverty in the countries where it helps. He thanked donors for their continued support.
“There’s so much that needs to be done,” Raine said. “We’re extremely grateful for our donors, our partners, the churches and to each person individually who is inspired to open their hearts and help their brothers and sisters in need. We’re hopeful that with your help we can still meet our goal of 10 million lifesaving meals.”
Top Christian recording artist Natalie Grant performed three songs during the event, including Face to Face, Be One and King of the World.
“‘We Are One’ is a beautiful statement, especially at this moment in time where it feels like there is so much division, so much happening in the world,” Grant said. “The light of the world, Jesus, is our hope. But he calls you and I to be part of that solution, loving our neighbor as ourself, remembering widows and orphans, and being part of something that brings hope to the world.”
Pastor Eddie Bevill, of Parkridge Church in Coral Springs, gave the opening prayer. In Matthew 25, Jesus calls us to feed those who are hungry, but Pastor Bevill said the passage sometimes is misunderstood.
“It’s not that I have to do these things to be right with God. It’s because I am right with God, I naturally do these things,” Pastor Bevill said.
“And God is honored and glorified when we do that. But even more so, people are blessed,” Pastor Bevill continued. “Two things happen when we live this way. Good things happen to people who need them and God is honored and glorified. As you partner with Food For The Poor, that is exactly what is happening. You’re doing the work of the Lord Jesus himself.”
The program included several videos of transformation, thanks to donors’ compassionate support and of needs still waiting to be fulfilled. Viewers listened to the story of 2-year-old Daniel and his siblings, who don’t eat every day. Their mother, Sandra, does what she can but knows it is not enough.
“When I don’t have anything to feed them, I ask them to understand,” she said through tears.
Later, they met Daysi, a young girl in Honduras so severely malnourished she could barely stand by herself and was so sick she couldn’t eat. But thanks to the charity’s intervention, Daysi’s future is bright and the miracle of her renewed life is transcendent.
BANDED, a Tennessee-based fashion-accessory company that provides three meals to a child in need for every headband sold, was a presenting sponsor for the event.
“As a mother, I cannot imagine being unable to feed my child,” said Lisa Struble, owner and CEO of BANDED. “We’re grateful to our customers who have gotten behind our product and gotten behind our mission. We really have a heart for helping women and one of the ways we feel we can really do that, especially in other countries, is to help feed her children.”
Other sponsors include Salem Media, radio sponsor; Feed My Starving Children, Calmark Group, Seaboard Marine and Hormel Foods.
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]