Food For The Poor Closes in on Goal to Build 1,000 Housing Units in 100 Days
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 5, 2017) Hundreds of poor families in Haiti are receiving the gift of a safe, secure home as Food For The Poor’s campaign to build 1,000 housing units in 100 days helps the country recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Matthew on Oct. 4.
Thanks to generous donors, the charity will have built more than 400 new housing units by the end of January. Construction is underway on another 500 housing units.
To date, construction teams also have:
- Repaired roofs and repainted 376 homes.
- Repaired three community centers and three schools.
- Repaired six fishing gear sheds with repairs on three more and construction of three new gear sheds underway.
As Haiti slowly rebuilds from the hurricane that ravaged its southern peninsula and claimed the lives of more than 1,000, Jan. 12 also marks the seven-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. Food For The Poor is commemorating the anniversary by keeping its promise to help the Haitian people recover from one of the worst natural disasters in the Caribbean country’s history.
“Building secure homes for families displaced by the earthquake and living in inhumane conditions became our priority, along with restoring as many schools as possible. We also battled cholera by digging wells and installing numerous water purification systems,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “Our commitment is just as strong after Hurricane Matthew, thanks to our loving and generous donors.”
Haiti’s dire housing needs were compounded by Hurricane Matthew, which battered the country with Category 4 strength winds of 145 mph. The storm flattened homes and crops along the southwest coast, damaged schools, swept away livestock and cut off transportation.
Since the hurricane, Food For The Poor has shipped a total of 151 containers of lifesaving aid to Haiti, including 15 from the charity’s headquarters in Coconut Creek, and more than 100 drop-shipped from donors or suppliers to Haiti. Those containers have included food, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, building materials and other goods.
Other partners have contributed in meaningful ways, saving lives and giving hope.
In a two-week drive in November, Broward County Public Schools collected 25 pallets of clothing, shoes, blankets, water, canned food, personal hygiene items, baby items, flashlights, stuffed animals and other items that were shipped to Haiti to help poor families impacted by the hurricane.
The relationship between Food For The Poor and Broward County Public Schools goes back to 2010 when the schools collected more than 600 pallets of relief supplies for the charity and earthquake victims.
Since the earthquake, the charity has built 7,267 permanent double-unit concrete block homes with water and sanitation in Haiti, providing people with a safe and secure place to live. The charity also has built or restored 44 schools in the Port-au-Prince area.
Food For The Poor also has shipped 7,106 tractor-trailer loads of essential aid including: rice, sardines, beans, rice/soy meals, medicine, medical supplies, school and dorm furniture, tile, shoes, hygiene items, household items, cleaning supplies, and construction supplies.
“For three decades, Food For The Poor has been a servant of the poor, and with God’s blessing, we will be here as long as we are needed,” Mahfood said. “The people of Haiti have had their share of natural disasters, yet they refuse to give up. And this organization will not give up on them.”
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. Over the last 10 years, fundraising and other administrative costs averaged less than 5% of our expenses; more than 95% of all donations went directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]
