Food For The Poor: Disaster Relief

Created nearly 40 years ago, FFTP is an interdenominational Christian relief and development organization that works primarily in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America to assist our poverty-stricken brothers and sisters.  Our ministry is shaped by the belief that Christ is alive and can be served directly by serving those in greatest need. (Matthew 25:40)

FFTP exists as God's instrument to help the materially poor and to renew the poor in spirit.  Our work in the Caribbean and Latin America empowers local churches, clergy and lay leaders with goods and supplies to assist those who are living in desperate poverty.  This netwok of in-country partners ensures that aid reaches those who need it most.

Thanks to its faithful donors, FTTP does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families; we provide safe and secure homes; drill water wells for those who otherwise wouldn’t have clean water; provide emergency relief; provide skills training and micro-enterprise opportunities that enable impoverished adults to work; and give children an education that will enable them to break free from the cycle of poverty that has ensnared generations.

FTTP's goal is to move people out of poverty by meeting basic needs which allows them to get a job and earn an income. In turn, they will be able to afford to send their children to school so they can get an education, ensuring their future and putting them in a position to help others who are struggling.

The importance of education in breaking thecycle of poverty is crucial. To this end, FTTP ships books, school supplies, furniture, computers and other needed items to schools throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. FTTP solicits used school desks, furniture and other equipment from school districts in the United States when they replace these items. Such classroom necessities are then shipped to schools in need.

Providing families in need with long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty is a priority at FTTP. To accomplish this, the organization has developed several income-generating programs that help the impoverished families help themselves through self-sustaining, income-generating and food-producing projects.

Fishing villages are a prime example of the effectiveness of self-help projects. When destitute coastal villages are selected to participate in FTTP’s fishing village program, a fishing cooperative is formed. The cooperative is supplied with boats, motors, fishing tackle and safety gear, refrigeration equipment, a storage facility and training in deep-sea fishing.

Thanks to these resources, fishermen are then able to fish in deeper, more bountiful waters and catch larger, more profitable fish. The entire village benefits from this enterprise because many of the villagers buy fish wholesale in order to sell it retail, while others sell fish to local residents. Additionally, the fishermen are required to return a portion of their proceeds to those who are less fortunate.

FTTP aims to improve the health, economic, social and spiritual conditions of men, women and children. FTTP raises funds and provides direct relief assistance to children and families living in poverty, usually by purchasing specifically requested materials and distributing them through the churches and charity organizations already operating in areas of need. More than providing food for the starving communities, the charity builds small houses, digs water wells, provides medicine and medical equipment as well as supports children’s homes and education for youths.

Our mission is also guided by a commitment to prayer to maintain the purity of the mission. Staff members conduct regular prayer services, praying over specific prayer requests received as well as generally praying for our suffering brothers and sisters.

FTTP works directly with churches, the clergy, missionaries and other nongovernmental organizations in the countries where we help. FTTP has an expansive network of island-wide distribution hubs, and supports thousands of faith-based partners in feeding and assisting those in desperate need.The organization asks what’s needed and then supplies the requested items. This direct distribution method helps assure that only those items that are actually needed are shipped, and it also helps minimize operational costs.

FTTP partners with local organizations in the countries we help in order to be effective and efficient. Jamaica, the first country assisted by FTTP, today includes more than 1,300 churches and institutions as partners in the distribution of food, medicine, educational supplies and other needed items. In 2020, FTTP shipped 3,157 tractor-trailer loads of much-needed supplies, thanks to the generosity of donors and the support of Food For The Poor partners.

In 2020, FTTP donors provided more than 243 million meals to malnourished children and families in the Caribbean and Latin America.

FTTP donors have built more than 88,500 safe and secure homes for the destitute.  In 2020, FTTP built 1,872 homes for families in need of safe shelter.  Since inception, the charity has provided more than $17 billion in aid.

In the last decade, we have completed 2,916 water projects that provide clean water and sanitation to hundreds of thousands of people in need.

In 2020, FTTP built, repaired or expanded 34 schools, and shipped 192 tractor-trailer loads of school furniture, books and educational supplies to schools, providing children with valuable tools for learning.

FTTP meets the extensive standards of America’s most experienced charity evaluator, the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.

Also, FTTP earned the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency for nonprofits.