FFTP in partnership with Matthew 25: Ministries Provides Hurricane Relief in Texas and Louisiana
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Sept. 11, 2020) Food For The Poor is rushing relief items to Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana to help families who were left without electricity and essential supplies, and some whose homes were heavily damaged, due to Hurricane Laura.
A 53-foot tractor-trailer loaded with relief items provided to the charity by Matthew 25: Ministries arrived last Friday at Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas.
Items include personal hygiene supplies, baby diapers and wipes, shampoo and conditioner, and laundry detergent and fabric softener.
Goods already have been distributed to families in need at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Beaumont and St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Nederland.
On Saturday, goods will be distributed at St. Francis Assisi Church in Orange. Goods will be distributed on September 16 in Newton County, at a location to be determined, September 19 at St. Henry Catholic Church in Bridge City, and September 23 at Our Lady of Lourdes in Vidor.
Colton Morris, Director of Development & Communications for the Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas, said the storm’s aftermath exposed a great need for supplies and financial resources to help families.
Catholic Charities expects to serve 300 families at each distribution.
“In times of great disaster such as this, the goods and services provided to affected families are essential in giving them that boost they may need to get from one day to the next,” Morris said. “We hope that we are able to meet some of the immediate needs present and allow for families to use their resources to more solidly work towards recovery,” he added. “We are grateful for support we have received in serving our brothers and sisters in Christ during this time.”
Another 53-foot container of supplies is headed to Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana in Lake Charles on Monday.
Food For The Poor primarily works internationally, but the charity has responded in the past to catastrophic disasters in the United States, including hurricanes and flooding on the Gulf Coast. “Families in Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana, who are already struggling because of coronavirus, are facing additional hardship this hurricane season,” Food For The Poor President/CEO Ed Raine said. “We’re blessed to work with strong partners, who along with our generous donors, are allowing us to provide help to those who need it most. It is our hope the relief items will help families recover more quickly and remind them they are not alone.”
Watch a video about Food For The Poor’s work to help families affected by Hurricane Laura in Texas.
The Category 4 Hurricane Laura came ashore near the Texas-Louisiana border on Aug. 27, tearing off roofs and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.
The death toll in Louisiana stands at 25, according to the state Health Department. Five deaths in Texas were also attributed to the storm.
Laura killed nearly two dozen people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as a tropical storm en route to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
In the fall of 2016, Food For The Poor and Matthew 25: Ministries partnered to help families devastated by floods in Southern Louisiana. Relief goods were distributed by Catholic Charities organizations in Lake Charles, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
In the fall of 2017, the charity and Matthew 25: Ministries once again worked together, along with partners Midwest Mission Distribution Center and Convoy of Hope, to deliver critically needed relief items to south Texas after Hurricane Harvey.
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 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 and abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]
