Pastor to Deliver Christmas for Savannah’s Unemployed
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Dec. 17, 2009) Food For The Poor is responding today to a request from a Savannah pastor for essentials to help out the unemployed and other needy residents in his hometown. The largest international relief organization in the United States is sending containers of food plus other household items to Pastor Freddie Hebron of the Christian Revival Center. All goods will be distributed free this Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009.
“Food For the Poor has been the source of what we do for more than 10 years now. They help me help the poorest of the poor year-round in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and here, locally,” said Pastor Hebron. He said he’s seen an increase of requests at clothing closets, food pantries and soup kitchens in Georgia, mirroring what’s happening all over the country during these economic hard times.
Anyone who is unemployed, on a fixed income, getting by on welfare, as well as senior citizens are welcome to line up for tickets at the Coastal Empire Fairgrounds, off Montgomery Street. The distribution starts at 10 a.m. and goes on until 4 p.m., but Pastor Hebron says hundreds begin lining up before sunrise.
“They come from all walks of life,” Hebron said. “We don’t just hope to clothe them and feed them, we minister to them, too. Many of them are giving up on life.”
The Christian Revival Center is gearing up to help more than 3,000 people who are in need of the basic essentials. Approximately 2,500 stood hours in line for help last year. Food For The Poor sent the center shipments of rice, beans, flour, canned foods, juices, and other foods, as well as children’s DVDs, house cleaning solutions, medical supplies, personal hygiene kits and kitchen products.
Pastor Hebron added that most who seek help at the church’s annual distribution want to provide a Merry Christmas for their families, but are finding it difficult to simply feed their families, or keep them warm on a daily basis.
“Pastor Hebron cares about feeding impoverished souls,” said Food For The Poor’s President/CEO Robin Mahfood. “He cares about nourishing their bodies and their spirit. His mission is in line with Christ’s, and therefore with ours. When he calls, I say, ‘Pastor Hebron, we will send help.’”
Tickets are given freely to those in need in order to collect the essentials and have already been delivered to various homeless shelters, the Equal Opportunity Office in Savannah, and the Salvation Army among other places where the distressed seek help. More tickets will be available at the fair, where volunteers of the Christian Revival Center will be providing basics for 50 people at a time. For those waiting in line for life’s basic necessities, the church will also provide food, entertainment and ministry.
Food For The Poor, the largest international relief and development organization in the United States, does much more than feed millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian agency 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 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor. For more information please visit, www.foodforthepoor.org.
Contact:
Aimee Vignola
Public Relations Associate
(954) 427-2222, ext. 6079