Local Church Packs 50,000 Meals to Feed School Children in Haiti
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COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Sept. 24, 2013) – Thanks to the generosity of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach, the international relief and development organization Food For The Poor soon will be shipping 50,000 packets of fortified meals to feed children attending schools in Bondeau, Haiti.
Each packet that was assembled by more than 300 volunteers at St. Paul’s on Saturday contains six nutritional servings. These meals consist of rice, fortified soy protein, vegetables, and essential vitamins and minerals. No stranger to caring for the needs of children in Haiti, St. Paul’s has a partnership with Ste. Marie Madeleine in Bondeau, an Episcopal primary school with approximately 250 children. The church has been providing hot lunches for the school for the past four years, but the Kids Care food pack program is something different.
“Once we learned that we could pack 50,000 meals at one time, we decided to include other Episcopal schools in the Bondeau area. At this moment, the plan is to distribute the food to a total of six Episcopal schools in Southeast Haiti,” said The Rev. Clelia Pinza Garrity. “And, we are extremely grateful to be partnered with Food For The Poor in this initiative.”
The Kids Care food packing program is a part of Outreach Inc., a nonprofit based in Union, Iowa. Outreach Inc. has worked with Iowa State University’s Food Science and Human Nutrition Department to formulate these rice casseroles. According to Outreach Inc., these meals are widely accepted by food banks, pantries, churches and food relief facilities throughout the United States and abroad. These meals are nutritionally balanced to meet recommended dietary guidelines.
“These rice casserole packets are easy to transport and are very simple to prepare, requiring only six cups of boiling water to make a complete meal for four to six people,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “We are extremely thankful to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and all the volunteers for their loving support on behalf of the children in Haiti.”
Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor 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, with more than 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.
Wanda Wright
Food For The Poor
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
[email protected]