(L to r) Ron and Mary Ann Platt's dream of owning a Mellow Mushroom restaurant, has helped a destitute family achieve their dream of owning a home.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (July 3, 2008) - Delray Beach's Mellow Mushroom is the new place for South Florida pizza lovers to thrill their taste buds and expand their philanthropic outreach. The combination of an abundance of fresh, quality ingredients makes every bite unforgettably delicious!

Proceeds from the grand opening at Delray Beach's Mellow Mushroom will be used to help build a house for a destitute family in a Third-World country. For $2,600, you too can honor someone by giving a destitute family a new Food For The Poor home in his or her name!

"We were honored to hear The Schroom Crew at Delray Beach's Mellow Mushroom selected Food For The Poor to be the designated charity for their grand opening," said Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor's Executive Director.

"The gift of a home offers more than just safe shelter, it renews hope and restores human dignity," said Aloma. "Recently in Cité Soleil, Haiti a couple, who had just received food from Food For The Poor's feeding center, brought me to their home where they lived with their seven children. I use the term home loosely because the structure was not by any standard sturdy or inviting. The dilapidated one-room structure had dirt floors, no windows, and was made entirely of zinc. Upon entering their home I felt like I had stepped into a dark, hot roaster. Immediately I was exhausted from the intense Caribbean heat and depressed by the desperate level of destitution that surrounded me. When I glanced at the ceiling, it was as if I could see every star in the night sky, there were so many holes in the roof allowing sunlight to flood-in through the cracks. That night it rained. I could not sleep. I knew those nine people whose home I visited, were probably drenched and struggling with a muddy floor."

Food For The Poor's annual Boca Raton gala will be held Feb. 7, 2009 at Boca West Country Club. Last year's Boca Raton gala focused on the dire housing needs in Latin America and the Caribbean that were compounded by the grueling 2007 hurricane season that affected Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Nicaragua. For tickets or sponsorship information, please call Kathy Leggatt at  (954) 427-2222 x 6646.

Food For The Poor, Florida's largest charity and the second-largest international relief and development organization in the United States, serves the poor of the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S. Food For The Poor provides food, emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, basic housing, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. More than 96% of all donations received in 2007 went directly to programs that help the poor. For more information please visit: www.foodforthepoor.org.