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Food For The Poor the largest international relief organization

By RICHARD SITLER
Indiana Correspondent

SPANISH TOWN, Jamaica — Food For The Poor (FFP) is the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, with more than 97 percent of all donations in 2008 going directly to programs that help those in need.

FFP provides nourishing food, safe shelter, necessary medical care, educational materials, support for orphans and the aged and much more to the poorest of the poor in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

According to Jamaica FFP, Inc. Projects Director Beth Carrol, the agency’s agriculture department works in three areas:

•Distribution: hand tools (such as hoes, machetes and the like) and seeds. Carroll says that anything that is offered to them as donation they take, and then try to figure out its usage. This distribution arm partners with other agencies.

•Agriculture projects: Both livestock and vegetable, such as the kidney beans program. FFP partners with the Jamaica ministry of agriculture through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority. It also partners with 4-H and the Jamaica Agricultural Society, to reach all parishes.

Other projects include livestock, such as goats, beekeeping and fish, and children’s home projects, which are quite successful. There are 17 children’s homes for orphans across the island and the government has cut their budgets due to the recession.

FFP has helped them cut down on expenses by either helping them start ag programs or giving a boost to programs already in existence. A side benefit for children in homes is having a better connection to where their food is from and giving them an interest in agriculture.

There are three in their department, so FFP partners with other agencies to be able to do more. 4-H has manpower, for example, and through their projects they reach out to more people. Such examples are home garden projects, which have been successful.
•Training: FFP works with those new to farming. In Jamaica, farming is seen as something only done by the old or the uneducated. The idea is to get young people interested in farming through on-site training and partnerships.

For example, the Ornamental Fish Farming project is a partnership with the ministry of agriculture. The ministry has the experts and FFP links its recipients with their aquaculture specialists. They help people register for programs, join networks and help formalize networks.

Overall the agency works in the areas of feeding, housing, education, medical care, orphanages, water projects, micro-enterprise development, disaster relief, distribution, partnerships and mission. The agency is in its 27th year and is an interdenominational Christian relief and development organization working primarily in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as the United States.

Some specific examples of FFP projects and results from an agency fact sheet include:

•Since its founding the agency has distributed more than 48,000 tractor-trailer loads of aid to the poor.

•FFP supplies destitute coastal villages with four fiberglass boats with outboard engines, GPS, fishing tackle, 100-quart coolers, safety equipment, a gear shed with freezer, generator and a powerful solar light for the village common area. Fishing villages transform communities by offering residents hope and opportunity to improve their lives. There are currently 17 Jamaican and 18 Haitian fishing villages in operation.

•A fruit tree program started in 2007 has resulted in the planting of more than 100,000 fruit trees in Haiti and Jamaica.

•FFP has completed the establishment of 212 Tilapia fish ponds that will supply needed protein to communities, feeding programs and schools.

For more information, visit www.foodforthepoor.org or call 954-427-222. The program’s address is: 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073.

10/28/2009