Since 1982, Food For The Poor donors have provided life-transforming work throughout the Caribbean and Latin American. Hundreds of thousands of the forgotten, the hungry and the poor have been blessed with a new opportunity in life, renewing that spark of hope for them and future generations.

Since inception, Food For The Poor donors have built more than 124,800 housing units, installed a total of 2,064 water wells, and sent more than 82,450 containers of essential goods to help people in the 17 countries where the charity serves.

One of the largest international relief and development organizations in the United States, Food For The Poor always has been about empowering families to become self-sustaining. The charity believes an education is an important key to breaking the cycle of poverty and is committed to providing children with an education. Over last three decades, more than 450 schools have been built, repaired or expanded.

“The mission of Food For The Poor is to link the church of the First World with the church of the Third World in a manner that helps both the materially poor and the poor in spirit,” said President/CEO of Food For The Poor Robin Mahfood. “Everything that this organization has done in these 36 years has been to transform and equip people to help themselves and their families. All of this is made possible with God’s blessing. Our donors and our staff are an extension of our Lord’s mercy, and they are the ones who make helping the poor possible.”

When it comes to natural disasters, Food For The Poor is eager to offer assistance. The charity has provided aid at the onset of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, and remains involved in the ongoing recovery work. Thanks to its generous donors and partners, thousands of families in Puerto Rico are getting much needed aid, four months after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the island. So far, Food For The Poor has shipped 69 tractor-trailer loads of aid to Puerto Rico.

Food For The Poor is working with the Catholic charity Caritas to distribute relief. Caritas Puerto Rico started in 1969 and has 200 parishes in 60 municipalities on the island. Food For The Poor also is working with the Episcopal Church to assure the distribution of the relief items. The church has 52 parishes throughout the island, warehouses and transportation, which are vital for reaching the rural communities.

Previously, Food For The Poor provided aid following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

The charity also is keeping its promise to the people of Haiti to be there for the long haul following the 2010 earthquake. Since the Jan. 12, 2010, disaster, Food For The Poor has built 8,717 permanent two-room concrete block homes with water and sanitation, built or restored 44 schools in the Port-au-Prince area, and has installed 151 water filtration units. Each water filtration unit purifies and chlorinates up to 10,000 gallons of water a day for a total of 1,510,000 gallons of clean water daily.

“Food For The Poor is honored to be able to help as many people as possible to rebuild their lives following tragedies caused by natural disasters, we understand that a natural disaster can take aim at any of us at any given time, but the road to recovery is nearly impossible for poor families in rural communities,” said Mahfood. “This is why we always will do what we can for as long as we can to provide assistance for families recovering from the catastrophic disasters in the Caribbean, the United States and in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. We will continue to do this as we celebrate 36 years of service.”

Food For The Poor donors also build hospitals and community centers that provide technical training. The charity has implemented animal husbandry, agricultural and aquaculture projects. These projects, such as beekeeping and fishing villages, are not only a food source but they are helping the poor to generate income.

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, including donated goods, went directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.