Determined to Reach Her Goal, 16-Year-Old Needs Your Help
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 8, 2016) Rachel Wheeler already has raised money to build a village and a school in Haiti. But the 16-year-old from Lighthouse Point isn’t done yet.
Rachel is very close to reaching the next goal in her philanthropic journey to help destitute families in Haiti with Food For The Poor.
Rachel, a sophomore at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, is raising funds to build safe, permanent homes for 25 families living in desperate conditions in K-Michel, which was devastated during the 2010 earthquake and never fully recovered. People live in homes of scrap metal, mud and wood. There is no safe drinking water and there are no schools.
Hope is on the way. Food For The Poor has started construction on the homes with the funds raised so far by Rachel.
But the work isn’t over yet. Determined to give those families a better life, Rachel needs the help of generous donors who can help her reach her latest fundraising goal.
Already, she is looking forward to her next project in Haiti: she wants to build another school.
“Building a house is a big thing. It can keep them safe and alive,” said Rachel. “If they get a school, they can do way more than they would be able to do without having an education.”
Her latest success just adds to her list of impressive commitments to the charity’s cause.
Rachel discovered her passion for helping others at the young age of 9. Her mother, Julie, took her to a Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce meeting at Food For The Poor headquarters where she met the charity’s President/CEO, Robin Mahfood.
She was captivated by Mahfood’s stories and pictures of impoverished families.
“She is a very special girl who has a tremendous love for the poor,” said Mahfood. “Because of her generosity and strong determination to make a difference in Haiti, she has greatly improved the lives of hundreds of children and their families.”
Rachel has traveled to Haiti three times since the January 2010 earthquake and has witnessed how the charity’s home-building program has been a blessing to the resilient people of Haiti.
In November 2011, then 12-year-old Rachel was interviewed for NBC Nightly News’ “Making a Difference” segment. Residents of the village greeted Rachel like their favorite daughter – clapping and singing songs of praise as the sound of musical instruments filled the air. While in Haiti, Rachel also met the students at L’Ecole Reap del Morel basic school, who received a new school thanks to donors who were inspired by her determination.
Since the 2010 tragedy, the charity has built 5,900 permanent double-unit concrete block homes with water and sanitation, providing more than 35,400 people with a safe and secure place to live. The charity also has built or restored 37 schools in the Port-au-Prince area.
“Families are still living in tents or structures made of zinc, tarps and other discarded materials found in garbage dumps. Families and children live amongst the rubble, with no future prospects,” wrote Rachel on her Champions For The Poor web page.
Rachel’s supporters have a wonderful opportunity to help provide safe and secure homes for those families. Liberty Tax Service is donating $50 to Rachel’s project for every tax return they process accompanied by a “redemption voucher.” You can print the voucher or show it to a Liberty Tax Service preparer on your mobile device. Please visit: www.facebook.com/rachelwheeler.167.
To support Rachel’s home-building initiative, tax-deductible donations can be made through the charity’s secure website at www.FoodForThePoor.org/rachel. Donations also can be mailed to Food For The Poor at 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073. Please make checks payable to Food For The Poor and include the source code “SC#107207” to accurately route your donation to her home-building effort.
To watch a video of Rachel’s fundraising journey, please go to: www.FoodForThePoor.org/rachelsgoal.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feeds million 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. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]