Food for the Poor Canada: How Canadians are answering the call to action

People the world over have lost friends, family, and jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. In countries like Haiti, where people already face incredible challenges accessing affordable food, individuals and communities are being pushed to the brink. They are confined to their homes and unable to work, which leaves them unable to feed their families.

“What we are witnessing in Haiti right now is a deadly combination of COVID-19 and a shortage of food,” explains Bishop Oge of Food For The Poor Haiti.

FFPC has reluctantly paused school and housing construction in Latin America and the Caribbean until it is safe to resume such projects; instead, they are leading the charge to address the urgent need for food.

“We have changed our focus from development and sustainability to aid and food relief,” announced Samantha Mahfood, FFPC Executive Director. “We can’t solve this food shortage alone. And we can’t solve it without you.”

As of writing, FFPC urgently needs funds to provide meals for children and families in underserved communities in Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras and Guyana. They need essential food, like soup, rice and beans.

Canadian farmers have donated surplus food, and volunteers from Gleaners’ Food Bank groups from Ontario to British Columbia have processed these foods into dried soup mix. To stimulate and support struggling local economies, FFPC also uses donated funds whenever possible to purchase food locally, such as rice, from Guyana and beans from Brazil.

Since the onset of the pandemic and despite their own financial hardship, Canadians have answered FFPC’s call. The kind support of Canadians helped FFPC deliver 100 new Jamaican-manufactured hospital mattresses to clinics in Jamaica and a shipment of medical inhalers to support people with respiratory illnesses in their homes.

Canadians have sent 4.4 million meals to vulnerable communities in Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, and Guyana, helping to feed 50,000 people since April. Now, your help is needed to continue to support 50,000 people with food through the pandemic.

“If you can find it in your heart to give, make no mistake, you can have an immediate effect,” adds Samantha Mahfood.

You can help by donating and asking your friends, families, and neighbours to make a big difference with a small contribution – because Together, We Can. Please keep those affected by COVID-19 in your thoughts and prayers.

Food For The Poor Canada empowers communities in Latin America and the Caribbean through five areas of programming: food, housing, education, health, and income-generating projects. FFPC responds to urgent needs while building community and social infrastructure. FFPC utilizes the preexisting networks of local affiliated organizations to better sustain and grow the communities they serve and responds effectively to emergencies and natural disasters when they occur. Over the last 12 years, FFPC and its Canadian donors have built 124 homes, 32 schools, as well as shipped and distributed $32,000,000 in food, educational and medical supplies to communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

To find out how you can support Food For The Poor Canada, visit

To find out how you can support Food For The Poor Canada, visit

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