Food For The Poor Celebrates 38 Years of Love and Service for the Poor
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2020) Food For The Poor is a multifaceted organization whose donors have made a tremendous impact in the lives of hundreds of thousands of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America.
As Food For The Poor celebrates 38 years of compassion in action, the charity also will enter its new year of service under new leadership. President and Chief Executive Officer Robin Mahfood, who led the international relief and development organization through an amazing period of growth for the last two decades, retired.
Since its inception in 1982, Food For The Poor has built more than 86,600 homes, completed 2,605 water projects, and sent more than 90,000 tractor-trailer loads of essential goods to help poor families throughout the 17 countries the charity primarily serves.
On Jan. 1, 2020, Food For The Poor Executive Vice President Ed Raine was appointed the new President/CEO. As Raine eagerly looks toward the charity’s future; he will remain committed to the core foundations on which the organization was founded.
“This organization has become one of the largest in the nation, an incredible accomplishment, which I am both humbled and excited to lead,” Raine said. “This organization has provided a tremendous service on behalf of the poor over the last 38 years. We want to build upon this solid foundation by incorporating our sustainable development strategies, which is to ensure each new community has a school, a clinic and income-generating businesses. We are a faith-based organization and we pray God will continue to bless our efforts with the support of our donors.”
Raine, who comes to Food For The Poor after 30 years in the corporate world, is well aware that even some of the most thought-out plans can be sidetracked by natural disasters.
- On Jan. 6, less than week after Raine’s appointment, Puerto Rico experienced a 5.8-magnitute earthquake and a series of aftershocks. The charity is working with the Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico to ensure critical aid is getting to those who need it most.
- Food For The Poor also is committed to helping the Bahamas. On Sept. 2, 2019, Hurricane Dorian, with winds peaking at 185 mph, stalled before making its first landfall on the Abaco Islands on Sept.1, followed by a second landfall on Grand Bahama Island. The charity has partnered with the Episcopal, Roman Catholic and Baptist churches in the Bahamas to lay the groundwork for the long-term recovery effort.
- Food For The Poor also has partnered with Minuto de Dios, a Colombian nonprofit organization, to bring relief to families in Colombia, including the tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants who have fled to escape shortages of food, water and medicine.
For nearly 40 years, Food For The Poor has helped hundreds of thousands of the forgotten, the hungry, the poor and now the displaced to keep the faith, by keeping its promises to be there for the long haul.
“In times of a crisis, Food For The Poor is ready and willing to help whenever possible – taking into consideration our connection with Puerto Rico, the proximity of the Bahamas, and the dire economic situation in Venezuela and Colombia, we must do all we can to help these families to get back on their feet, no matter how long it takes.” Raine said. “Again, we want to thank all of our donors for answering the call and for their willingness to assist in various relief efforts. It’s equally important to thank the caring staff at Food For The Poor, who makes what we do possible.”
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, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned or abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Wanda Wright
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
[email protected]