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Food For The Poor 2007 Hurricane Relief Efforts
Food For The Poor was able to respond immediately to Tropical Storm Noel and Hurricanes Dean and Felix.
To aid Tropical Storm Noel victims, Food For The Poor has shipped approximately 30 containers of aid to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Relief items include tents, blankets, cleaning supplies, medical supplies, clothing, food and other essentials.
Following Hurricane Dean and Felix, Food For The Poor sent more than 245 containers of hurricane aid to countries in the Caribbean and Central America.
· Our relief efforts for Hurricane Dean consisted of sending containers of tents, tarpaulins, blankets, emergency relief items, clothing, mattresses, cleaning supplies, food, water, lumber, zinc, medicine and medical supplies. The countries receiving the aid, and the number of containers sent, were: Jamaica, 149; St. Vincent, 1; Dominica, 4; St. Lucia, 5; Haiti, 30; and Dominican Republic, 6.
· Hurricane Felix devastated the coastal areas of Nicaragua and required Food For The Poor to purchase building supplies in Central America, in addition to sending relief supplies. Nicaragua received 40 containers of aid and Honduras received 4 containers consisting of emergency relief supplies, medications, clothing, cleaning supplies, blankets and building materials. Additionally, 2 shipments of medicine were airlifted to Honduras.
· Prior to Hurricane Dean, the government of Jamaica immediately cleared all containers on the wharf, enabling Food For The Poor to deliver supplies to over 200 shelters that would house over 5,000 people during and after the hurricane.
· In Jamaica, we have provided ADRA, Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the ODPM Jamaica with supplies of bottled water.
· Food For The Poor immediately sent aid and assessment teams to some of the hardest hit areas within Jamaica, namely, Portland Cottage, Rocky Point and Mitchelltown. Teams went door to door to assess the amount of assistance needed, and provided residents with supplies of food and water.
· Food For The Poor provided medical teams of doctors and nurses to evaluate and treat the victims of the hurricane. Medications were provided at no cost to the patients.
· Food For the Poor has sent medicine, pharmaceuticals, hospital beds and mattresses to the hospitals in the country.
· We have identified and committed to the replacement of thousands of roofs, as well as to the replacement of homes totally destroyed. The replacement of furniture and mattresses is underway.
· We have completed the repair of four school roofs, and the replacement of school furniture that was damaged. This effort enabled the schools to open for classes.
· Food For The Poor has already committed nearly $1,000,000 of repair construction material to the countries, with more to follow.
September 21, 2007, 11 a.m.
“Comfort, give comfort to My people, says your God.”
(Isaiah 40:1)
 One week after category-five Hurricane Felix crippled indigenous communities in Nicaragua and Honduras, bodies of victims continued to be washed ashore. According to the American Nicaraguan Foundation, more than 170 people died in the devastation. Complicating relief efforts is the area’s remoteness; roads are impassible, and supplies must be airlifted by helicopter.
A Food For The Poor team assessing damage in Nicaragua reports that remote villages have been destroyed, and many villagers remain missing. Residents of Sandy Bay, Nicaragua spend days or weeks living in small homes on islands off the coast, earning an income by fishing. These fishermen, unaware of Hurricane Felix’s strength, remained on the islands. It’s feared that many died in the storm.
 One survivor is Bolino Davies, a Sandy Bay fisherman who was swept out to sea off the island where he and eight family members were fishing. Bolino barely managed to survive in the open ocean for three days with a small buoy tied to his waist. The buoy rubbed his skin raw, but saved his life. A boat rescued him near Honduras. Tragically, his sister, two brothers and five brothers-in-law drowned.
At least 18,477 Nicaraguan refugees are now living in dilapidated shelters and more than 16,843 families lost their homes. Food For The Poor is coordinating relief efforts with Nicaraguan relief agencies. The most immediate needs are food, water and tarps to provide shelter to thousands of families whose homes were severely damaged or destroyed.
 Before Felix devastated indigenous communities along Nicaragua’s northern borders, villagers struggled with poverty. More than 62% of indigenous children are malnourished. About 92% of the rural population earns less than 58 cents a day in U.S. dollars. Yet despite the loss and destruction, the poor still cling to their faith. Many are grateful to God for sparing their lives.
You can assist in the relief efforts by helping Food For The Poor send relief supplies to victims of Hurricane Felix. Please, send a gift today by clicking the link below.
Donate to the Hurricane Relief Fund
August 23, 2007, 11 a.m.:
Following the devestation of Hurricane Dean, Food For The Poor looks to help countless displaced families rebuild their homes, lives, and faith.
August 22, 2007, 10:30 a.m.:
August 21, 2007, 11:00 a.m.:
Kingston, Jamaica, August 20, 2007, 11:30 a.m.:
Hurricane Dean battered Caribbean nations this weekend, killing at least nine people and leaving thousands homeless and hungry. Initial reports indicate that in Jamaica, where the 145-mph hurricane passed just to the south, damage includes collapsed buildings, flooding, landslides, and impassible roads.
Susan James, a Food For The Poor staff member on site in Jamaica, said that current reports show that the condition of Portland Cottage, which suffered the closest brush with Hurricane Dean, is "worse than after Hurricane Ivan, and Ivan was horrible. They’re going to need water desperately. Everything they own is gone. The water was higher than in Hurricane Ivan. About three-quarters of the village is gone."
Homes in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Lucia, and Dominica were destroyed. Four people were killed in Haiti when Hurricane Dean brought flooding and damaging winds.
Food For The Poor is presently raising $2 million to send emergency relief aid to the hardest-hit areas. The organization needs to ship and distribute 5.5 million pounds of water, food, blankets, lumber, roofing materials, water purification tablets, tarps, buckets, rope, clothing, ice chests, flashlights and batteries, generators, kerosene lanterns, tents, hygiene kits, and other emergency supplies to Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia and Dominica and other affected areas.
“Roofs were ripped off homes,” said Robin Mahfood, president of Food For The Poor. “The poor have lost all their belongings and people fled for their lives. This hurricane has affected many of the countries we serve. We’re desperate because so many countries are in dire need of emergency supplies.”
Food For The Poor's centrally-located warehouse facilities in Spanish Town will serve as the staging point for relief operations in Jamaica. The organization’s extensive distribution network of churches, hospitals, schools and orphanages enables the charity to put the relief plan into operation immediately.
Food For The Poor staff members in Jamaica are still assessing damage and needs of the poor, but are unable to get through to some of the worst-hit areas because of downed power lines and trees blocking the roads. Keep checking back to this website for further updates as they become available.
August 18, 2007, 3:30 p.m.:
Early today, Food For The Poor began delivering aid in the countries that have already been hit by Hurricane Dean. Those countries include Haiti, Dominican Republic, Dominica, and St. Lucia. Now the organization braces itself for the worst aspect of this devastating natural disaster. The Category 4 Hurricane is headed directly towards Kingston, Jamaica, where FFP funds many projects for the poor, and where a major distribution facility for the organization is located.
“We have a team in place to immediately assess damage and report back to us on the most urgent needs,” said Executive
Director Angel Aloma. “We have taken steps to secure our own facilities in Kingston, where we have offices and a distribution center that serves the entire island.”
Aloma added, "We are working closely with the Jamaican government. FFP is delivering hurricane supplies to all shelters and places that may be used as distribution points. The Jamaican Government has given FFP permission to clear all trailers/containers from the wharf immediately -- dispensing with standard processing -- so that supplies can be quickly distributed to those who need it most. The FFP staff will be working as long as safety allows to unload and distribute as many of the supplies as humanly possible."
Food For The Poor maintains operations in multiple locations in the Caribbean: Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Grenada. It also serves Guyana, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua in Central and South America.
Food For The Poor has been assisting the people of the Caribbean since 1982, distributing aid through a network of churches, missionaries, hospitals, orphanages and schools located throughout the entire region. The organization provides housing for the destitute and has built more than 40,000 homes for the poor.
Food For The Poor is the third-largest international relief organization in the United States, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and does much more than simply feed the millions of hungry poor in 16 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. Since 1982, we have provided clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and emergency relief, with more than 96% of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.
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