Miami Marlins, CITY Furniture Donate Mattresses for Haiti Quake Relief
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 29, 2021) The Miami Marlins and CITY Furniture are teaming up to donate 128 Tempur Sealy twin mattresses to Food For The Poor to help families in Haiti who lost everything in the August 14 earthquake.
Nearly 53,000 homes were destroyed and another 77,000 sustained heavy damage in Haiti’s southern peninsula.
FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said the charity is moving from immediate relief into a strategy to provide safe, secure homes.
FFTP already has moved displaced families into 107 newly built homes. And the charity has a commitment to work toward building 400 homes in two villages for families displaced by the earthquake in addition to 200 more homes out of its general funds.
“People are suffering and need our help,” Raine said. “We’re so grateful to the Marlins and to CITY Furniture for working with us to provide such a meaningful gift to these families.”
As soon as they became aware of the crisis, the Miami Marlins and CITY Furniture were eager to get involved.
“At the Miami Marlins, we know teamwork makes a difference on the field and in the community, and we are proud to join CITY Furniture, and Food For The Poor in supporting those in need in Haiti,” said Raquel ‘Rocky’ Egusquiza, Miami Marlins Foundation Executive Director. “The combined efforts will provide needed resources to support the on-going relief of the Haitian community.”
Andrew Koenig, President of CITY Furniture, said, “One of our core values is giving back to our community, even when that means going outside the typical boundaries of our South Florida home base. We’re grateful that we were in a position to jump in and amplify the efforts of Food For The Poor and the Marlins, and the great work that they are doing for displaced families in Haiti.”
FFTP and the Miami Marlins have worked together over the years to raise awareness of the needs in Haiti.
In September, volunteers from the Marlins’ front office visited the charity’s Coconut Creek warehouse to help sort goods and assemble baby kits for a special Help Haiti Community Collection Event to help families affected by the quake. The team also delivered 250 disaster bags that were packed at a Marlins Day of Service event to commemorate the 9/11 attacks.
Representatives of the Marlins traveled with FFTP in 2011 to celebrate the opening of a village in Malfety. And in February 2020, Marlins players and alumni, along with 600 volunteers, assisted FFTP in packing more than 100,000 meals for starving families in Haiti to commemorate the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The Miami Marlins Foundation makes a positive IMPACT on South Florida by creating opportunities for youths to stay active, achieve academic success and build leadership skills. Our programs focus on wellness, empowerment, and youth baseball & softball. For more information, please visit www.mlb.com/marlins/community/foundation.
CITY Furniture operates 20 showrooms from Miami through Vero Beach, and in Southwest and Central Florida, as well as 14 Ashley HomeStore showrooms as the brand’s Southeast and Southwest Florida licensee. For more information, please visit www.cityfurniture.com.
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 the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean 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 www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]