COCONUT
CREEK, Fla.
- Food For The Poor, the foremost international
relief organization serving the Caribbean and
Latin America, announced its 14th annual gala,
Seeds of Hope,
which will be held Saturday, February 7, 2009,
at the Boca West Country Club. A spectacular
evening is planned, beginning with cocktails and
an extensive silent auction, followed by a
gourmet dinner, dancing and a special
performance by vocalist Madison M. McIntosh.
Master of
ceremonies for
Seeds of Hope
will be Emmy Award-winning newscaster Calvin
Hughes. Hughes serves as the weekday morning and
noon news anchor at WPLG-TV Local 10 (ABC) News.
In August 2008, Hughes accompanied dignitaries
from Miami-Dade County as they traveled to Haiti
with Food For The Poor representatives to
distribute nonperishable items at Food For The
Poor’s feeding center in Port-au-Prince.
The gala focuses
on the dire housing needs in Haiti that were
compounded by the grueling 2008 hurricane
season. Housing has been a top priority for Food
For The Poor, with more than 50,000 housing
units given to the poor. By providing simple,
sturdy homes to the poorest of the poor, we can
change the lives of entire families by giving
them the security of a safe, dry place to live.
The event chairs
for
Seeds of Hope
are Robin and Gail Mahfood. Robin has been
involved with Food For The Poor since its
founding in 1982, and currently serves as its
president and chief executive officer. Under his
management, Florida’s largest charity has
doubled in size every three years, and has
maintained a remarkable operating cost ratio -
under 4 percent.
Food For The
Poor will honor South Florida residents whose
generosity and dedication to the organization
have been inspirational. Food For The Poor’s
2009 Ambassadors for the Poor honorees include
Dennis and Jennifer Charley, Rev. Marty
Devereaux, Michael and Kathryn Feanny, Calvin
Hughes, Ben and Sally Kennedy, Guillermo and
Bertha Monroy, Alvaro and Barbara Pereira,
Raymond and Leonor Ripoll, Mark Schulhof, and
Gerald and Kathy Stevens.
Event sponsors
include Aljoma Lumber, American Nicaraguan
Foundation, Dennis Charley & Associates, Inc.,
The Pereira Family, Quadriga Art, Inc., Rody
Truck Center, Seaboard Marine, and United
Healthcare.
For additional
information regarding the
Seeds of Hope
event and tickets, available at $200 per person,
please call Kathy Leggatt at (954) 427-2222 x
6646, or visit the Web site
www.foodforthepoor.org/boca09
Food For The Poor,
Florida’s largest charity and the 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 percent of all
donations received in 2007 went to programs that
help the poor.