2017 Miss Jamaica Diaspora Contestants Visit Food For The Poor
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (July 26, 2017) Contestants from the Miss Jamaica Diaspora 2017 Beauty Pageant visited Food For The Poor today and learned about the destitute poor served by the charity. One of the contestants was very moved by the charity’s generosity to her country, because she considers those struggling as members of her family.
Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood explained that in these developing countries, the people living in poverty do not have access to clean water, nor do they have a proper school system. To gather food, young girls and boys sometimes have to walk miles to find it.
“We are teaching people how to get out of poverty, whether it is fishing, beekeeping, animal husbandry, or agriculture,” Mahfood said. “If you can teach somebody how to make a profit, then they will not go back into poverty. And when they are able, they then help us help other families out of poverty.”
As the contestants toured the building and looked at photos, they learned about the important housing, water, and educational projects provided by the charity’s generous donors.
“It really overwhelmed me that there are people in the world that really need help. It is just amazing the work that Food For The Poor does,” said Brihanna Kinte, a contestant from Portland, Jamaica. “It is hard to see these countries and how they are suffering. They are human beings, too. We cannot just cover it up. We can help them instead.”
In 1982, Food For The Poor was a small feeding program in Jamaica, but since then it has grown to be one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the United States.
“It humbled me to know that they only eat one meal a day, and I can eat all the time. I am truly grateful and now I want to give back and help,” said Danasia Dyer, a contestant from Kingston, Jamaica.
To be a part of the pageant, contestants must have been born in Jamaica or have one parent of Jamaican descent. The winner and the first runner-up of this contest are automatically finalists of the Miss Universe Jamaica pageant.
The main focus of the pageant is to encourage positive achievement, promote a healthy lifestyle, encourage academic achievement, and charitable involvement while developing strong values, according to the pageant website.
“We applaud the Miss Jamaica Diaspora pageant for promoting volunteerism, and we are honored to be granted this opportunity to show pageant participants what Food For The Poor does in their homeland,” Mahfood said.
The contestants who visited Food For The Poor were: Janae James, Miss Portland; Brihanna Kinte, Miss St. Elizabeth; Danasia Dyer, Miss Kingston; and Natasha Clarke, Miss St. Mary. They were accompanied by Pageant Director Cheryl Levy-Douglas.
The Miss Jamaica Diaspora Pageant will be 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 Northwest 11th Place, Lauderhill, Fla.
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.
Jack Arnold
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6078
[email protected]