FFTP Sends Critical Aid to Tampa Bay Region, Georgia, Tennessee in Response to Hurricane Helene
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 1, 2024) – Food For The Poor (FFTP) is responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, sending critically needed relief supplies and committing funds to assist vulnerable communities hit hardest by the storm.
The storm, which made landfall last week in Florida’s Big Bend region, left behind widespread damage and displaced thousands of families from Florida’s Gulf Coast up through Georgia to the southern Appalachian Mountains of the Carolinas and East Tennessee. At least 133 deaths in six states have been attributed to the storm.
Today, a truckload of aid departed FFTP’s Coconut Creek, Fla., warehouse for the Tampa Bay area, where it will be distributed by Catholic Charities of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Items include 240 buckets filled with cleaning supplies, 560 children’s activity kits, 500 bags of Liquid I.V. oral rehydration solutions, 500 tote bags, 320 blankets, 540 disaster hygiene kits, and 250 packs of diapers.
FFTP’s response also includes:
- • $25,000 to support meal distribution efforts through Send Relief, the Southern Baptist social services arm, in Valdosta, Ga., near the Florida-Georgia line. This initiative will provide 25,000 meals daily to all communities, including migrant communities in the area severely affected by the storm.
- • A disaster relief kit that was prepositioned with Catholic Charities of Raleigh, N.C., and is now being deployed to provide relief to families affected by Helene in Knoxville, Tenn. Each year before the start of hurricane season, FFTP prepositions relief supplies internationally and domestically, giving partners the ability to respond immediately to needs on the ground without having to wait for supplies to be shipped in the days after a disaster.
- • A truckload of aid from FFTP partner Midwest Mission Distribution Center is en route to the Florida Catholic Conference, including 60 pallets of buckets filled with cleaning supplies, tarps, trash bags and more than 4,000 hygiene kits. Catholic Charities will oversee the distribution.
FFTP primarily works internationally, but the charity has responded in the past to catastrophic disasters in the United States, including most recently Hurricane Francine in Louisiana and Hurricanes Ian and Idalia in Florida.
“This is what we do when disaster strikes, we step up to help,” FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said. “We’re committed to getting much-needed supplies to families who are facing the unimaginable challenges of rebuilding their lives after Hurricane Helene. Our partnerships with organizations like Catholic Charities and Send Relief are critical in making sure aid gets to those in desperate need.”
To help with FFTP’s disaster response, go to: foodforthepoor.org/emergencyrelief
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 15 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, 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 foodforthepoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Communications
954-471-0928
[email protected]
