FFTP, Vida Unida Join for Corazones Hispanos Unidos: Volunteers to Pack School Supplies for Children in Need
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Sept. 11, 2024) – Food For The Poor (FFTP) is partnering with Miami Spanish language Christian radio station Vida Unida to pack school supplies during Corazones Hispanos Unidos on Saturday, Sept. 28, in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
FFTP’s Coconut Creek warehouse, 6401 Lyons Road, will become an assembly line of love on that special day with volunteers working together to fill more than 5,000 backpacks with essential items like notebooks, crayons, and pencils that will be sent to children in the charity’s Angels Of Hope program in Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.
Register for the packing event or make a donation at foodforthepoor.org/comunidad or foodforthepoor.org/community. The event is free.
Renown journalist and host Myrka Dellanos and radio host Sadiel Castro are scheduled to attend.
Dellanos hosts the program “La Mesa Caliente” on Telemundo in addition to being the morning host of “Myrka en las Mañanas” on Vida Unida Radio.
Castro, originally from Puerto Rico, was one of the most popular announcers on Hispanic radio in Philadelphia, where he was a morning announcer for more than 13 years before becoming programming director. Today, he works for Hope Media Group in Houston and airs daily alongside Dellanos.
Castro will be the featured guest on FFTP’s Beyond the Plate podcast episode that premieres at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, as the charity kicks off its commemoration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Learn more at foodforthepoor.org/podcast.
In an interview with FFTP, Castro said he was happy to learn about how the charity is helping families in need.
“Part of our mission is trying to partner with people and organizations to help other people,” Castro said. “That’s part of the mission that God has in his plans for the station – helping others.”
Underscoring the importance of the packing event, FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said many families living in poverty cannot afford basic school supplies, making it difficult for children to attend school regularly.
By providing backpacks and school supplies, barriers to education are lowered, enabling more children to succeed in school.
“National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to honor the rich culture and contributions of the Hispanic community, and we are proud to partner with Vida Unida to make a tangible difference in the lives of children in need,” Raine said. “By coming together to pack these essential school supplies, we are not only supporting education but also celebrating the spirit of unity and generosity that defines this community.”
In addition to the packing event, FFTP and Vida Unida are also collecting school supplies with specific items requested, including: spiral notebooks, pencil cases, blue pens, black pens, No. 2 pencils, pencil sharpeners, crayons (24 pack), colored pencils (12 pack), highlighters, glue sticks, 5-inch safety scissors for children, 12-inch rulers, and backpacks.
School supplies can be dropped off at FFTP’s Coconut Creek warehouse, 6401 Lyons Road, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays until Saturday, Sept. 28, and then from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. These supplies will be donated to Miami-Dade County Public Schools as part of the partnership with Vida Unida.
FFTP’s Child Sponsorship Program, known as Angels Of Hope, supports safe havens where boys and girls can grow and develop mentally and physically.
Established in 2003, this program aims to improve the lives of vulnerable children by providing essential items to the group homes so the children can heal, grow, and thrive in a loving environment where their basic needs, including food, education, and health care, are met.
In 2023, caring donors sponsored 5,545 vulnerable children in 130 children’s homes in Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The program soon will expand to Colombia, Peru, and Mexico.
“At Food For The Poor, our mission extends beyond providing immediate relief,” Raine said. “Through initiatives like this packing event and collection drive, we are investing in the long-term success of the children in our Angels Of Hope program, ensuring they have the tools they need to thrive academically and in life. It’s an honor to be part of this effort, especially during such a meaningful time as National Hispanic Heritage Month.”
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]