Crisis in Haiti: Food For The Poor Reopens in Haiti to Distribute Aid
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 27, 2024) – After four weeks of being shuttered due to gang violence in Haiti, Food For The Poor’s (FFTP) offices in Port-au-Prince initiated a soft reopening this week to safely distribute critically needed food, hygiene items and medical supplies.
On Monday, aid was distributed to 23 institutions, such as community organizations, churches and health centers that came to FFTP-Haiti’s warehouse in the capital, while 24 institutions received aid on Tuesday. Distributions continued on Wednesday.
FFTP-Haiti’s office in Caracol in the northern region of Haiti also reopened twice last week and again this week to serve people in need with aid.
For months, Haiti has grappled with gang violence and a growing number of displaced families – now estimated to be more than 360,000.
The violence has escalated in recent weeks, with the closure of roads and certain hospitals preventing FFTP-Haiti and other aid groups from delivering critical supplies at a time when they are needed the most.
The violence somewhat subsided in recent days, allowing FFTP-Haiti to reopen on a limited basis. But news reports on Tuesday indicated gangs were intensifying their rampage in the downtown area of Port-au-Prince.
FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said the charity continues to look for windows of opportunity to deliver aid as it waits for the right moment to respond on a massive scale.
“We’re routinely able to distribute aid in Haiti,” Raine said. “We just need the safe passage.”
The needs are dire. A recent report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an organization that sets a scale used by the United Nations and governments to assess hunger, said nearly 5 million people out of a population of about 11.5 million were pushed to high levels of acute food insecurity since the gang violence surged.
Currently, FFTP has about 150 containers of food, medical supplies, and cleaning, hygiene, and household items at the port in Port-au-Prince but has been unable to retrieve them.
“Our warehouse is still safe,” FFTP-Haiti CEO Mario Nicoleau said. “We are still stocked with goods and materials. We still have fuel reserves to be able to do distributions and render assistance if and when security is established in the country.”
Last week, volunteers began packing 10,000 hygiene kits at FFTP’s Coconut Creek, Fla., headquarters. Volunteers are packing kits on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
As of Tuesday, March 26, volunteers have packed more than 4,300 kits.
FFTP has supplies for 10,000 kits on hand and is securing an additional 20,000 kits, all from partner MAP International, which also is donating an additional 20,000 kits. The kits, which include essential items such as soap, toothpaste, and sanitary products, will provide much-needed relief to families affected by the ongoing crisis.
FFTP is also purchasing supplies to assemble 15,000 women’s care kits to meet the unique needs of women in crisis situations.
In addition to the hygiene kits, FFTP has 140 pallets of MannaPack rice meals, equal to four tractor-trailers, from partner Feed My Starving Children ready to be shipped to Haiti.
FFTP also has secured commitments for 20,000 hygiene kits from partner Heart to Heart International and 3,200 family emergency kits from partner GlobalMedic. The family emergency kits contain essential items, such as hygiene products, water purification sachets, buckets, and solar-powered lights.
Raine said the charity is working with its team in Haiti to prepare a long-term strategy for when it can move more freely and safely about the country.
“The severity of the problem is at a scale not witnessed in our current lifetime,” Raine said. “We invite everybody to help us, whether it’s cash donations or engaging volunteers to help us pack tens of thousands of these kits.”
Donors can visit foodforthepoor.org/helphaiti to support FFTP’s Haiti relief efforts.
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 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]
