COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 3. 2023) – Food For The Poor (FFTP) is closer to meeting its goal of providing 10 million meals for vulnerable families in need in Latin America and the Caribbean, thanks to generous donors who responded to the call for help during the charity’s fourth annual National Celebration – We Are One virtual event on Thursday, Sept. 28.
The event, which took viewers on a journey of prayer, transformation, and hope, was livestreamed from the charity’s Coconut Creek headquarters.
A special gift-matching challenge means every dollar donated was matched with a dollar’s worth of food, making donors’ gifts from the event go even further. The results so far are enough funds to provide almost 5 million meals.
Donations can be made by going to FoodForThePoor.org/one.
Support is critical at a time when the ripple effects of rising inflation, global conflicts, and climate change have inflicted greater hardships on impoverished families in Latin America and the Caribbean, leaving many who were already vulnerable facing something even much worse.
More than 345 million people worldwide face high levels of food insecurity in 2023, more than double the number in 2020, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
Haiti and the countries in Central America’s dry corridor, a strip of land vulnerable to prolonged droughts, are among the hunger hot spots identified by the World Food Programme.
FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said the charity has delivered 23 million meals over the last three years, thanks to the past generous supporters of We Are One.
“This work is so vitally important,” Raine said. “These meals are absolutely critical to what we do. You have no idea just how significant that one meal a day is to someone who isn’t sure they are going to eat that day at all. Thank you for your support.”
The event included a moving video of a mother of four children in Honduras in need.
Maclovia is the sole provider for her family after her husband was permanently injured while working. At night, she gathers her children and prays for a house, food, clothing, shoes, and everything they need for school.
“I ask Him to help,” Maclovia said. “Because it isn’t easy.”
The program also included special performances by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Laura Story and FFTP Development Advisor Ricky Gonzalez.
Story performed her hit song “Blessings,” for which she won Top Christian Song at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards. Gonzalez performed “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”
“We are one family created in God’s image, and we’re responsible for taking care of each other,” Story said. “We’re all blessed with different gifts and talents. It’s our responsibility to use those and organizations like Food For The Poor are in a place to do that. It’s up to us to care for the least and the lost. It’s a tragic reality that millions of people go to bed hungry every night. But the good news is that we can make a difference.”
BANDED, a Tennessee-based fashion-accessory company that provides three meals to a child in need through FFTP for every headband sold, was a presenting sponsor for the event.
Additional sponsors include longtime partner Feed My Starving Children and longtime radio sponsor Salem Media.
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 Latin America and the Caribbean. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, 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 FoodForThePoor.org
