“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.” (Matthew 18:5, NIV)
A message from the President...
Dear Friend in Christ,
Children’s lives were saved… unsheltered families were protected… thirsty villagers were offered clean water.
These are only a few examples of what your support enabled Food For The Poor to accomplish in 2007. And behind each number and statistic in this annual report lie the grateful hearts of poor families — families who have been offered hope through your compassion.
“No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is brought to perfection in us.” (1 John 4:12)
While it’s impossible to fully measure the difference your gifts have made, it can be seen in a poor mother’s tears of joy or felt in the embrace of a newly sponsored orphan.
Your support is a godsend to the truly destitute. And throughout this annual report, you’ll see the amazing ways that the poorest of the poor have been lifted up through your kindness and generosity.
On behalf of all the suffering and struggling families you have helped touch this past year, thank you. Your acts of compassion truly are a reflection of God’s infinite love.
May God continue to bless you.
$1,037,495,325
$33,377,612
1 Table of Contents A message from the President................ 1 Nourishing bodies and spirits ..............2 Building hope.............................................. 4 Providing a better future............................6 Aiding disaster victims ...............................8 Caring for the sick .........................................10 Teaching the children............................... 12 Working together..........................................13 2007 Financial Statement ..................... 14 Giving thanks................................................... 16
A servant of the poor, Robin G. Mahfood
2007 Summary
activitieS*
Expenditures ......................
Operating Expenses .........................
Tractor-Trailers of Aid Distributed ................... 4,340 *Subject to final audit.
Lowest Ratio Ever
of
Total
Nourishing bodies and spirits
Almost everyone has experienced hunger at one time or another. But an empty, aching belly is a daily reality for countless children and their families throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.
Feeding the hungry is the foundation of Food For The Poor’s ministry. Without adequate nutrition, a child’s mind and body cannot develop properly. Children who have not eaten become listless and find it difficult to concentrate in school. Chronic malnutrition affects every aspect of life.
With your help and support, Food For The Poor supplies lifesaving food to schools, churches and other feeding programs that provide sustenance to those who might not have any other source of food.
Near a garbage dump in rural Guatemala, children line up patiently to receive food at a feeding program supported by Food For The Poor. The children wait expectantly, desperately hoping to fill their empty stomachs with a hearty, nutritious meal.
Some of the children bring the food directly back to their families, but others are so hungry that they can’t resist the temptation to take a few bites on the spot.
Your gift to feed hungry children not only provides meals — it also provides hope. A hot, nutritious meal sustains the body and lifts the spirit, serving as a reminder that God’s love can come in many forms.
For a mother with a child crying from hunger, every meal is a tremendous blessing. For children waiting to
receive a bowl of food, anticipation grows with each step forward.
Because Food For The Poor acquires food in large quantities, we are able to provide a family of four with food for a month for just $12. But this is only possible through the compassion and generosity of people like you.
Feeding our poorest brothers and sisters is one of the most basic, yet beautiful acts of kindness we can perform. In sharing our blessings with others, we are nourishing bodies and spirits.
Thank you for all you do to help feed hungry children and their families.
feeding factS & figureS
In 2007, Food For The Poor distributed more than 54.4 million pounds of food, enough to feed countless malnourished children and their families. This included more than:
• 29 million pounds of rice • 9.1 million pounds of beans • 3.2 million pounds of various other grains
1.4 million pounds of canned foods
11.7 million pounds of other assorted foods
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“If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness…”
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(Isaiah 58:10a)
Building hope
For many of us, a house is the center of family life and a place where lives are shared and memories are made. A house offers comfort and shelter from the elements, and security and protection for those inside. A house can be a refuge both physically and emotionally.
But for the poorest of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America, a house is little more than scraps of wood, metal, plastic or even cardboard. Many of these huts have dirt floors that turn into mud when it rains, and roofs that leak on the few meager belongings inside. For children living in these dilapidated shacks, their house is more of a threat than a comfort when storms rage and the walls or roof threaten to collapse.
In Nicaragua, Rosa Chavarilla and her 5-year-old son Josue were living in a shack that provided little protection from the wind and rain. In the dry season, dust and dirt would blow through the sizable holes in the walls. As a result, Josue suffered from bronchitis and parasites, and he was frequently sick. His mother worried constantly about her son’s health, but their poverty kept her from improving their living conditions.
Countless families throughout the Caribbean and Latin America live in conditions that are unsafe and unsanitary. The lack of adequate shelter makes life much more difficult in so many ways.
Josue’s teachers say that he shows great promise and potential. He is a bright and attentive student. But due to illnesses caused by his living conditions, he was sick for several months and held back a year in school.
This family’s situation has recently changed, thanks to the compassion and generosity of people like you. Rosa and Josue now live in a new Food For The Poor home that has solid walls, a sturdy roof and provides them not only with safety and security, but also with dignity.
Thousands of families received a new home this past year thanks to the generosity of many people who shared God’s love with “neighbors” thousands of miles away. These destitute families were blessed with new hope. Local construction workers were given the opportunity to earn a living and provide for their families. Communities were built that will provide an opportunity for upcoming generations to grow and develop in a healthy environment.
Thank you for helping to build a better future for children and their families.
HouSing factS & figureS
In 2007, Food For The Poor built 6,345 housing units for families in need of adequate shelter. Since 1982, we have built 46,419 housing units for the poor.
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“Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.”
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(1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Providing a better future
Fields that were once empty are now filled with papaya and guava trees, and ponds brimming with tilapia. For twenty people in Honduras who formed a cooperative, these self-help projects from Food For The Poor are a lifeline out of poverty. The group was given seedlings and the necessary materials, and then trained to harvest and market the fruit and fish. The cooperative has become so successful that it now exports papaya to El Salvador.
“All the people from the cooperative were very poor. Since this project started, their lives have gotten better. The whole community has improved,” said Evelio Caracmo, leader of the cooperative.
Food For The Poor development projects not only improve the health and welfare of the poor; they also provide self-sustainable sources of income to entire communities. In Haiti and Jamaica, destitute fishermen once had rickety rowboats. The fish they caught were small and barely enough to feed their families. Now these fishermen are hauling in tremendous catches, thanks to the establishment of new Food For The Poor fishing villages.
Fishermen in these areas were outfitted with everything needed to catch deep-sea fish. Each fishing village received four fiberglass boats with outboard engines, 100-quart coolers, safety equipment, a locked shed to store equipment, global positioning system (GPS) fish finders and kerosene freezers to store the catch for later sale at the local markets. Coastlines are mapped to locate the best fishing areas, and fishermen learn how to use the GPS and market their catches. The fishermen
contribute a minimum of 5 percent of their catch to feed the community’s poorest residents, and they train young men and women in fishing to pass along their skills to the next generation. The fishing villages are monitored by Food For The Poor staff in each country.
From harvesting fruit to harvesting fish, those who receive these projects are given the dignity of earning a living. Through your gifts to Food For The Poor, you share Christ’s love and give a lifeline of hope to destitute people for generations to come.
2007 ProjectS Summary
Project Cost Housing/housing villages .....................................$16,497,000 Construction and repairs ........................................ 723,833 (for schools, clinics and multipurpose centers) Project support ..................................................... 1,029,967 (for clinics, nursing homes, schools, feeding programs and orphanages) Water/sanitation ................................................. 1,712,849 Development and self-help projects ........................ 1,716,688 (for tilapia
Total Projects....................................................... $21,680,337 6
ponds, fishing villages, fruit tree nurseries and animal husbandry)
“…in due time we shall reap our harvest…”
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(Galatians 6:9b)
Aiding disaster victims
Natural disasters such as hurricanes often unleash their fury on a particular location for a few terrifying hours. But recovering from the devastation can take months or even years.
Homes can be demolished, lives lost, and families left to cope with the daunting task of recovery and rebuilding. The mental, physical and emotional scars that remain can be deep and sometimes overwhelming.
The 2007 hurricane season brought an enormous amount of damage and destruction to several countries. Hurricane Dean hit the southern coast of Jamaica… Hurricane Felix ravaged the eastern coast of Nicaragua… and Haiti, Honduras and the Dominican Republic were also severely impacted by extreme weather.
Once the storms passed, Food For The Poor was ready to help, thanks to your support.
Both immediate and long-term relief are needed after a disaster. Food, water and other supplies are critical in the days and weeks that follow. But there is also a need to rebuild homes and communities, restore water and sanitation, and provide the means to replant crops and help the victims get back on their feet with sustainable projects.
In 2007, your gifts helped provide 310 tractor-trailer loads of relief supplies to those affected by natural disasters. Through God’s gracious mercy at work in the hearts of our donors, we were able to help countless devastated families. When there’s an emergency, it’s critical to respond quickly, efficiently and effectively. Your continued support makes this possible.
No one can predict the future, but it’s important to be prepared for the difficulties we inevitably face. Rebuilding lives and restoring hope is an ongoing process. On behalf of all those who struggled through natural disasters this past year and received help through your generosity, thank you.
2007 emergency relief
The 2007 hurricane season devastated thousands of poor families. Food For The Poor responded by shipping 310 tractor-trailer loads of relief supplies.
Country Storm Tractor-Trailers Jamaica ......................... Hurricane Dean...................... 161 Nicaragua ....................... Hurricane Felix ........................ 41 Haiti .............................. Tropical Storm Noel .................. 32 Haiti .............................. Hurricane Dean........................ 31 Dominican Republic .......... Tropical Storm Noel .................. 18 Belize ............................ Hurricane Dean.......................... 6 St. Lucia ......................... Hurricane Dean.......................... 6 Dominican Republic .......... Hurricane Dean.......................... 5 Dominica ........................ Hurricane Dean.......................... 4 Honduras ........................ Hurricane Dean.......................... 4 Cayman Islands ............... Hurricane Dean.......................... 1 St. Vincent ...................... Hurricane Dean.......................... 1 8
(Ephesians 2:10a)
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“For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance…”
Caring for the sick
Sometimes the children cry. Sometimes they are too weak or too scared or too surprised to do anything more than lay there and let the good doctor with the gentle hands and warm smile examine them.
Children visiting Food For The Poor’s free clinic in Haiti receive special attention from volunteer pediatrician Dr. Michelle Coles. As she has for the past eight years, Dr. Coles works in the clinic two days a week. One of her patients is little Bianca Jilles. Bianca fell ill shortly after her birth. Her mother, Elsie, 39, prayed for an answer. The local hospital was too expensive, despite the fact that she and her husband sold their furniture and all they had to pay the medical bills.
“I didn’t expect my baby to live. It was a blessing to find this clinic and a solution to her problem. God and Dr. Michelle saved her,” said Elsie.
The clinic is critical to the hundreds of indigent patients who visit each week. Among children, malnutrition is the most common medical ailment Dr. Coles treats.
Thanks to your caring compassion, Food For The Poor is able to support clinics, hospitals and nutrition centers throughout the countries we serve. Care is given at little or no cost, saving thousands of lives every day. And Food For The Poor’s clinic in Haiti offers more than free medical care to the poor. The modern medical facility gives caring physicians like Dr. Coles the opportunity to give back to the community and share their blessings.
“I received a lot in my family. My parents helped me, and I promised my mother, ‘I will help children who are needy,’” Dr. Coles said. “This is a promise I plan to keep.”
medical factS & figureS
To help care for the sick who could not afford medical care, Food For The Poor shipped 496.5 tractor-trailer loads of medicines and medical supplies in 2007.
Country Tractor-Trailers Jamaica ................................................................ 154.0 Guatemala ............................................................... 78.5 Haiti ....................................................................... 62.5 Nicaragua ................................................................ 62.0 Honduras ................................................................. 42.0 Dominican Republic ................................................... 41.5 El Salvador .............................................................. 19.5 Guyana ................................................................... 12.0 Grenada .................................................................... 7.0 Ecuador ..................................................................... 4.0 Trinidad ..................................................................... 4.0 St. Lucia .................................................................... 3.5 Antigua ..................................................................... 2.0 Other ........................................................................ 4.0 10
“He went around all of Galilee… curing every disease and illness among the people.”
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(Matthew 4:23)
Teaching the children
Emmanise Nerestant, 11, has a dream. One day this shy fourth grader will be a physician, and return to Haiti’s Cite Soleil. “I want to be a doctor so I can help the people of Cite Soleil, because too many of them die,” she said simply.
Classmate Junior Fedno, 10, wants to be a pilot. And Osline Cherisme, 9, wants to have a sewing shop.
education factS & figureS
In 2007, Food For The Poor provided 546 tractor-trailer loads of educational supplies to schools — giving children from impoverished families the tools they need to break free from the cycle of poverty. This included 104 tractor-trailer loads of books.
Dieula Altidor, these children’s teacher at a school in Haiti’s largest slum, knows that such purposeful dreams are fueled by learning. It’s here that children are given hope for a better life and an escape from grinding poverty. Education is free at Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours, and children are provided with everything they need, from books to a hot lunch.
The Food For The Poor school educates 345 children from kindergarten to sixth grade. Thanks to your support, it’s an oasis of learning in a poverty-stricken community that needs children to dream of a better tomorrow. Your generosity provides schools with furniture, food, books, teaching materials, teacher’s salaries and other items essential to learning.
“The only hope for this community is the education we provide here,” said Dieula Altidor. “Food For The Poor is very important to us. I thank everyone who made this possible; thanks from the children and the entire community.”
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“Make known to me Your ways, Lord; teach me Your paths.”
(Psalm 25:4)
Working together
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been a longtime partner with Food For The Poor in projects that provide food and promote agricultural education for the destitute of the Caribbean and Latin America.
tHe uSda and you
In 2007, with your help, we distributed more than 22.8 million pounds of food from USDA grants.
In Zacapa, Guatemala, one such program offers desperately needed food to poor families living in this remote mountain region. Because of severe droughts that plague the country, the mountain region’s families cannot rely solely on their own farming for sustenance. The area’s indigenous Mayan inhabitants travel down the mountains for hours by mule in order to receive a monthly distribution of food items that include powdered soy, beans, corn, rice, oil, milk and wheat.
Country Pounds Jamaica .........................................................
12,810,000 Guatemala ...................................................... 10,010,000
“We live up there because we grew up there,” said Rita Aldana, an impoverished mother who receives the food on behalf of her family. “We have nowhere else to go.”
This is why our distribution and feeding centers are so vital to hungry families. Guatemala has the highest rate of child malnutrition in our hemisphere. By the end of the day that we spoke with Rita, more than 100,000 pounds of food had made its way up Zacapa’s mountainside and into the hands of hungry families. Together, with our valued partners and people like you, Food For The Poor will continue to battle the hunger that threatens the lives of destitute children.
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“For He satisfied the thirsty, filled the hungry with good things.”
(Psalm 107:9)
2007 Financial Statement*
Support & Revenue: Contributions – Cash $ 89,312,852 Contributions – Donated Goods 940,024,643 Contributions – Pledges 5,387,681 Other Income 363,709 Total Support $1,035,088,885 Expenses: Program – Education $ 159,012,744 Program – Healthcare 601,346,080 Program – Basic Needs 172,790,361 Program – Community Support & Development 43,989,068 Program – Intra-program Costs 26,979,460 Fundraising 25,263,621 Management 8,113,991 Total Expenses $1,037,495,325 Excess (Def) Revenue: $ (2,406,440) Assets: Cash & Cash Equivalents $ 11,874,421 Contributions Receivable 2,549,959 Property & Equipment 17,594,107 Goods in Transit 3,182,253 Other Assets 609,630 Total Assets $ 35,810,370 Liabilities & Net Assets: Accounts Payable $ 5,526,030 Mortgage 5,913,395 Accrued Liabilities 282,471 Total Liabilities $ 11,721,896 Net Assets: Unrestricted $ 24,063,238 Restricted 25,236 Total Net Assets $ 24,088,474 Total Liabilities & Net Assets: $ 35,810,370 * Year ending December 31, 2007. Subject to final audit. 14
PoSition revenue exPenSeS Contributions –Cash: 8.6% Contributions –Pledges & Other Income: 0.6% Contributions –Donated Goods: 90.8% Program Services: 96.8% Fundraising: 2.4% Management: 0.8%
Statement of activitieS Statement of financial
Distributed in 2007
4,340 tractor-trailers worth $962,129,367
Antigua .......................................................$296,797
Argentina ............................................... $1,061,931
Belize ....................................................... $2,365,511
Dominica ............................................... $3,037,981
Dominican Republic ...................... $164,486,909
Ecuador .................................................. $2,510,184
El Salvador ........................................... $33,247,232
Grenada ................................................ $15,199,129
Guatemala .......................................... $154,061,947
Guyana .................................................. $39,575,470
Haiti....................................................... $94,286,055
Honduras ........................................... $100,548,979
Jamaica ................................................ $207,465,144
Nicaragua ........................................... $122,339,003
Paraguay ................................................. $5,687,774
Peru ..............................................................$369,748
St. Lucia .................................................. $5,068,178
St. Vincent .................................................$218,398
Trinidad .................................................. $9,782,272
Uruguay ....................................................... $78,078
USA .............................................................$139,100
Venezuela ...................................................$159,201
Zimbabwe ..................................................$125,806
Other ............................................................. $18,540
officerS and directorS
P. Todd Kennedy Tax and Estate Planning Attorney Chairman
Robin G. Mahfood Food For The Poor President/CEO, Director
David T. Price Attorney at Law Secretary & Treasurer
Bill Benson
Certified Public Accountant Director
Grace Bonina Business Professional Director
Most Reverend Lawrence A. Burke, S.J. Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston, Jamaica Director
The Right Reverend Leopold Frade, D.D. Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida Director
Rhonda Maingot Missionary Director
His Eminence Óscar Andrés
Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B. Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, C.A. Director
Lynne G. Nasrallah, Ed.D.
Education Leadership/Counselor Director
Alvaro J. Pereira
Business Professional Director
Reverend Gregory Ramkissoon
Roman Catholic Priest Director
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Giving thanks
The poor whom we serve teach us lessons continually about faith and thanksgiving. Hungry children who once sifted through garbage in hopes of finding food now smile graciously after receiving meals at our feeding centers. Families who once prayed to God from dark hovels now lift up His name beneath sturdy, protective roofs.
Amid all-encompassing poverty, the destitute families we serve thank God in their trials as well as their moments of relief. And every recipient of aid from Food For The Poor exuberantly praises God for sending people like you to help.
It is in the spirit of such gratitude that Food For The Poor thanks God for allowing us to partner with compassionate individuals in order to relieve the suffering of the poor.
Our donors are the heartbeat of this organization. You truly understand what it means to spread God’s love, and the lives that your support touches will never be the same. Once-forgotten families now realize that someone cares for them. Such love is a priceless gift.
The churches, clergy and Christian organizations we work with connect the churches of the First and Third Worlds. It is through these alliances that the cries of the poor are heard and answered. These relationships form vital connections for thousands of the poorest of the poor.
Our corporate and government partners continue to be beacons of hope to the truly destitute. Their donated gifts and goods remind the poor of the Third World that the people of the First World are willing to share their blessings.
Those who spend time visiting the poor on pilgrimages have seen God’s hand at work in those we serve. Every pilgrim changed by these experiences comes to the understanding that, as followers of Christ, we are called to ease the suffering of the “least” of our brothers and sisters.
Individuals who are involved in planned giving are so important to the poor because they not only feel the plight of the poverty-stricken within the heart, but also often leave a legacy of love for those who have so very little.
Participants in the Operation Starfish program help the poor one person, one house or one village at a time. No one individual can solve the problem of poverty. But by working together in collective Christian charity, every act of kindness and generosity helps to lift up the suffering and downtrodden.
A destitute gentleman in Guyana who recently received a new Food For The Poor home exclaimed, “Praises to the Most High!” He then conveyed a message of gratitude to those who had made this possible: “You are bringing respectability and dignity to our community. What we could not have done on our own, you are doing for us. We hope you continue to do the good work that you’re doing so you can bless others.”
Your generosity truly changes lives. On behalf of the destitute families we serve, thank you for your support. We look forward to continued partnership in bringing comfort and hope to the lives of those in need. May God bless you.
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“The Lord had done great things for us; Oh, how happy we were!”
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(Psalm 126:3)
Vision Statement
Food For The Poor is God’s instrument to help the materially poor and to renew the poor in spirit.
Our ministry is a reflection of our Lord’s unconditional love — a love that surrenders all, that inspires trust and faith, and that embraces all people, regardless of race, status or creed. It is also shaped by our belief that Christ is alive and can be served directly by serving those in greatest need. (Matthew 25:40) For guidance and to maintain the purity of our mission, we stress the need for regular prayer.
Through surrender, service and prayer, we seek a closer union with our Lord.
Mission Statement
Our mission 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.
The materially poor are served by local churches, clergy and lay leaders who have been empowered and supplied with goods by Food For The Poor.
The poor in spirit are renewed by their relationship with and service to the poor through our direct ministry of teaching, encouragement and prayer. Ultimately, we seek to bring both benefactors and recipients to a closer union with our Lord.
6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073 (954) 427-2222 • Fax: (954) 570-7654 • www.foodforthepoor.org