Food For The Poor Canada held our third annual Thanksgiving Lunch at The Toronto Hunt on the weekend. The lunch was an opportunity to celebrate our donors, supporters and partners and raise funds for the community of Petite Riviere de l’Artibonite in Gressier, Haiti.
The funds raised will go towards a new community for displaced families in Haiti who have fled from the Dominican Republic. In this humanitarian crisis, caused by the expulsion of generations of Haitians from the Dominican Republic, over 30,000 people have fled to Haiti and are seeking refuge at camps along the border.
Children need a safe, protective environment and an opportunity to play and go to school. Adults need employment options. Families need safe homes, clean water and access to health care.
The innovative and multi-faceted project will be working with 140 displaced families to create a community from the ground up – made up of 140 houses, community centre, health clinic, communal water supply, community market, school and income-generating projects.
Thanks to our donors, $10,000 was raised on the weekend which will help provide clean water for a new community.
This week the families will be transported to Petite Riviere de l’Artibonite after living in a make shift camp at the Haiti and Dominican Republic border for the past 5 months. The 80 acres of land donated by the Haitian government have been cleared and the development of 140 homes and communal water supply will soon be underway.
We were honoured to welcome the Minister of Education of Jamaica, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites as the key note speaker who spoke to the importance and value of investment into education across Jamaica.