| It has been in existence for 19 years now as a humanitarian organisation, but Food For the Poor Guyana Incorporated (FFTP) is in no way restricted to merely giving a few handouts to the needy.According to Executive Director, Leon Davis, while donations of basic items such as food and clothing, is a trademark undertaking, there is much more to FFTP. And there is a dire need, Davis noted, during a recent interview that members of the public become more aware of the extensive work the entity has been engaging in over the years.With funding garnered from donations from overseas and local fundraisers,Cheap Baseball Jerseys China, FFTP is able to expend several millions of dollars to assist the needy. Over the years the entity has been able to expand its reach humanitarian to a wide cross section of the population.“We are able to do more than we have been able to do in the past few years. This year we have been able to bring 25 percent more containers than last year….and that is a lot of money we are talking about.”On average FFTP spends about $4 million on an annual basis to carry out its various projects. Davis asserted though that the entity’s admin expense is merely three percent of its total funding as part of its efforts to ensure that most resources are directed to the poor.Just over 50 persons are employed by the entity which is audited regularly. FFTP has its own internal auditors but also utilises the services of the reputable firm Ram and McRae.In its quest to address the problem of poverty in the society, Davis revealed that the efforts are being directed at the area of housing and water. He underscored that there is without a doubt a serious situation with housing despite there are several house lots being given out on a regular basis.“There are still people who need homes; there are still people who cannot afford to pay to construct a house and so we at FFTP have over the last two and a half years, set up many homes free of cost in this country.”The first housing project undertaken by the humanitarian entity, according to Davis, was at St Cuthbert’s Mission. A total of 40 homes were constructed there in addition to a community centre and sanitation block, all of which were completed at no cost to villagers.The housing project was then taken to Region One, at Wauna/Tobago where another 40 houses with sanitation block were built. The biggest project to date, however, is 100 homes, sanitation block, school, trade store and community centre at Onderneeming Sand Pit in Region Two.In addition, more than $2M was expended to sink a well in order to facilitate the area with potable water. Another housing project was undertaken in the Pomeroon and most recently, at Mainstay. Projects were also undertaken in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six.“We have built homes all over this country and all of these homes are free of charge to the people.All they need is documented evidence that the lands that we are going to build these houses on are authorised land that they paid for through the Ministry of Housing.”At the moment FFTP is not concentrating on building homes but rather to empower poverty stricken villages by setting up farms and other projects to generate finances. Such projects have also been channelled into the Prison Services, particularly at the New Amsterdam Prison.And over the last five years the entity has been supporting eight orphanages, which accommodate about 250 children.This venture which has been appropriately named ‘Angel of Hope’ caters to facilities including the Kamal Home, the Joshua House, the Drop In Centre, the St John’s Bosco Orphanage, Bright Horizon and Save the Children.Through FTTP, he said that all of the children have an overseas-based sponsor who supports them in various ways. “They send money to them for school uniforms; they send money for them on their birthdays and at Christmas and they send money for us to keep a big party for all of the children…”At the end of the celebration all of the children are presented with a special hamper. “These children are future leaders of tomorrow so we have to start looking at them now so that we can develop them into decent citizens.”As such, most of the homes are furnished with computers and libraries and have feeding programmes. Davis noted that every month, representatives of FFTP would visit the homes in order to determine the needs in order to make life for the children a little better.“This is a very important feature of FFTP that we undertake in trying to address poverty…but we need other organisations to work along with us so that at the end of the day the poor people will benefit.” |
