FOOD For The Poor (Guyana) Incorporated (FFTP), the largest charitable non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Guyana, today celebrates 26 years of dedicated service to thousands of families across Guyana.

FFTP commenced operations on June 3, 1991 in Kingston, Georgetown, before moving to 248 Forshaw and Oronoque Streets, Queenstown.

Because of the great need of essential services for the population, it quickly expanded and is presently located at 1999-2002 Blue Mountain Road, Festival City, North Ruimveldt.

Headed by a Board of Directors chaired by Paul Chan-a-Sue, the daily operations are managed by Chief Executive Officer Kent Vincent.

It was previously managed by former Executive Director Leon Davis, who retired in 2012 after 21 years of outstanding service to the organisation.

Through its committed donors, the charity has built more than 3400 housing units since its inception, of which more than 500 homes were constructed as part of a 12-village project. The villages are located in Regions One, Two, Four and Five.

In 2016, the organisation distributed 159 containers of goods inclusive of food, medical equipment and supplies, educational supplies and sporting equipment.

FFTP’s Angels of Hope Programme caters for 244 children from 12 orphanages.

A monthly supply of food, clothing, toiletries and school supplies are donated to the homes and the children are sponsored by donors from the U.S. Children must be under the age of 18 years to be admitted to the programme.

Some 318 children from Mashabo, Enterprise, Sophia and Watooka Primary Schools benefit daily from FFTP’s school feeding programme.

The children enjoy a hot nutritious meal with beverages and fruits. The parents of the children are also given monthly hampers.

President/CEO of Food For The Poor Incorporated, USA Robin Mahfood in his address to a large gathering in attendance at FFTP’s (Guyana) silver jubilee dinner at the Pegasus Hotel last June said, “We [FFTP] work in schools and orphanages. Education is one of the easiest ways out of poverty. Without a good education, you’re asking for trouble.”

The organisation’s Wheelchair Programme which was launched in 2015 continued in 2016, when approximately 550 more wheelchairs were distributed to disabled persons across the 10 administrative regions of the country, free of cost.

The entity is also engaged in water, self-sustainable agricultural and animal husbandry projects, to name a few.

Most of the organisation’s funding is derived from donations and fund-raising activities such as cake sales, take-away lunches, corn houses and raffles, among others. One of the main fundraisers is the Annual Schools Raffle.

FFTP would like to thank the donors — both local and overseas — for their faithful support over the years and looks forward for more support in the future.

Food for the Poor Inc., Florida, USA, one of the largest international relief and development organisations in the world, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America.

This inter-denominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance.

Over the last 10 years, fund-raising and other administrative costs averaged less than five per cent of expenses; more than 95 per cent of all donations went directly to programmes that help the poor.