Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood Retires: FFP Executive Vice President Ed Raine Will Lead Charity, Jamaica Vocational Training Center to be Built in Robin Mahfood’s Name
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 2, 2020) Food For The Poor President and Chief Executive Officer Robin Mahfood is retiring after leading the international relief and development organization through a remarkable period of growth for almost 20 years.
Food For The Poor Executive Vice President Ed Raine has been appointed the new President/CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2020.
In his previous role, Raine oversaw many aspects of management for Food For The Poor, focusing on organizational development and strategy. Raine served in executive roles in Operations and Human Resources for large global organizations, before joining Food For The Poor in October 2017.
Under Mahfood’s leadership, the charity has become one of the largest in the nation.
In 2000, Mahfood assumed the role of President/CEO. But his involvement with the organization dates back to its inception in 1982 as one of the original founders. During that time, the charity has built more than 85,400 homes for the destitute, shipped more than 88,000 containers of essential goods, and provided more than $15.7 billion in aid.
“The organization is in good hands,” Mahfood said of Raine as his successor. “There’s a lot of good work to be done. The next decade is going to bring all of us new opportunities. My thoughts and my prayers will always be at Food For The Poor.”
To honor Mahfood’s legacy, the organization will launch an appeal to build a vocational training center in Jamaica on land next to Food For The Poor-Jamaica’s office in Spanish Town. The new Robin G. Mahfood Vocational Training Center was announced at the charity’s annual holiday luncheon for its employees in December.
One of Mahfood’s top focuses for the organization always has been teaching the poor how to make a profit so they can lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
Raine said the training center will celebrate and honor Mahfood in a way that is a lasting legacy. It will provide multiple elements of teaching trades and professional skills to people in a large campus setting.
“We can do something in Robin’s name that will make a transformational difference to the lives of the poor,” Raine said. “All of our mission trips to Jamaica will be able to go to this campus and see people who need help being trained on how they are going to make a profit.”
To honor Mahfood with a gift to help fund the vocational training center, go to www.FoodForThePoor.org/honor.
Food For The Poor was founded by Ferdinand (Ferdy) Mahfood in 1982. He and his wife, Patti, traveled throughout the Caribbean working to bring relief to victims of poverty, disease and natural disasters.
In 1985, the ministry built its first home for a family in Jamaica. In 1988, Food For The Poor responded to the needs of victims of Hurricane Gilbert on the island, drilled its first water well in Haiti in 1992, and three years later built its first school, the Ti Aiyti School, in Cite Soleil. In 1996, Food For The Poor expanded to begin serving the poor in Central America, specifically El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Raine will assume the helm of the organization as it executes new sustainable development strategies to help the poor. At the same time, the charity is developing new partnerships with Minuto de Dios, in Colombia, and with the Episcopal, Catholic and Baptist churches to help the Bahamas recover and rebuild after Hurricane Dorian.
“It’s a very humbling place for me to stand here being the first one not to have the Mahfood name leading this organization,” Raine said. “My job is to continue the legacy of service of the Mahfood family, a job I will do to my very best capability with the support of our generous donors and the excellent team at Food For The Poor.”
In addition to his 30 years in the corporate world, Raine served on the Board and as Chairman of the Board for the nonprofit Northeast Human Resources Association (NEHRA), and as a Corporate Sponsor Liaison to Best Buddies International.
To learn more about Raine, go to www.FoodForThePoor.org/ceo.
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, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned or 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]
