Former WPTV Anchor Paige Kornblue to Emcee Building Hope Gala

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2017) Excitement is building for Food For The Poor’s 22nd Annual Building Hope Gala on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, 501 E. Camino Real, Boca Raton, Fla.

The Building Hope Gala will celebrate Food For The Poor’s 35 years of dedicated service to the poor. The international relief and development organization, which started serving Jamaica in 1982, is now transforming the lives of the destitute primarily in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

David and Patricia Wallace of Boca Raton, longtime Food For The Poor donors, will be honored by the charity with the Lifetime of Giving Award.

Boca Raton native Paige Kornblue, former anchor and reporter at WPTV Ch. 5, the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, will serve as master of ceremonies for the event, which will feature dining, music, dancing, a silent auction, a live auction and a live house rally.

Kornblue resides in both Boca Raton and Dallas with her husband Andrew N. Hunter and their three young children, a 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old twin boys. She grew up in Boca Raton and attended St. Andrew’s School followed by the University of Michigan. In the past, she has enjoyed her role as an event emcee and volunteer for numerous organizations including The American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Junior League of Boca Raton, Boca Raton Community Hospital and the Boca Raton Community Historical Society.

Among the gala’s special guests will be Salem Media nationally syndicated talk radio hosts Mark Davis, Larry Elder and Mike Gallagher, who all are traveling this week on a mission with Food For The Poor to Guatemala, one of the 17 countries served by the charity.

Attendees will be invited to create a legacy of compassion by pledging to build 50 critically needed houses in Boen, Haiti. The area is in Ganthier on a flat dirt plain, where 90 percent of the residents survive on less than $1 per day and live in disintegrating mud huts that offer no protection from the elements.

“When you fund a home for a poor family, you are funding the chance to build a better future and an opportunity for self-sufficiency,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor.

Guests also will be able to bid on silent auction prizes, such as electronics, jewelry, vacations, golf and dining packages, and a rooftop experience at Wrigley Field, home of the 2016 World Series champions the Chicago Cubs.

For additional information regarding the Building Hope Gala, including sponsorship opportunities and tickets, available at $300 per person, please call 888-404-4248 or visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca.

Committee members include: Elena Del Alamo, Dawn DeMarco-Book, Matthew Bryant, Keren Gee, Trina Holmstead, Noelle Kahan, Marlene Ross Khouri, Ann Mahfood, Julie Mahfood, Rene Mahfood, Nathalie Parchment, Beth Rosenstein, Natasha Singh, Renee Stetler, Anastasia Taglienti and Patricia Wallace.

Gala sponsors include: Aetna, American Nicaraguan Foundation, Bloomingdales, The Calmark Group, CBIZ MHM LLC, Coral Springs Automall, Crowley, Dennis Charley & Associates, Dixie Clamp, Downtown Photo, Dusco Doors, Excell Auto Group, Flor de Caña, The Harcourt M. and Virginia W. Sylvester Fund, J.R. Dunn Jewelers, The Leslie L. Alexander Foundation Inc., MCFFE Group LLC, Private Stock, Russ Reid, Salem Media Group, Schmidt Family Foundation, Seaboard Marine, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, Tank Weld Metals, TD Bank, Teemlink, U.R. Floored Today, Victoria L. Burrier and Vitas Healthcare. The Boca Raton Observer is the exclusive magazine sponsor.

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]