J$53 Million From One Run: Food For The Poor’s 5K Pays for 60 New Homes

• Food For The Poor’s second 5K Run/Walk in May 2016 raised J$53 million
• The money would build two-bedroom houses for 60 families
• Food For The Poor in Florida matched the 2016 funds
• The 2015 run raised about J$46.5 million and paid for more than 50 houses

A single morning’s run can put dozens of families into new homes. In June 2016 the Jamaica Observer reported that Food For The Poor’s second annual 5K Run/Walk, held on May 7, had raised J$53 million.

The money would give 60 families new two-bedroom houses, built in phases through the rest of 2016. Food For The Poor in Florida matched the funds raised in 2016. The first run, in 2015, had raised about J$46.5 million and paid for more than 50 houses. In 2015 the Christian charity built about 842 houses in Jamaica in total.

Andrew Mahfood, chief executive of Food For The Poor Jamaica, said the need remained huge. “Hundreds of poverty-stricken families are currently on our waiting list for houses. They are in dire need, many of whom are single mothers,” he said. He thanked supporters: “Food for the Poor Jamaica is extremely grateful for the support received both in 2015 and 2016 during the 5K Run/Walk.”

The figures show the scale of the model: the two runs together raised almost J$100 million and paid for more than 110 houses, while the charity’s regular programme was building hundreds more each year. Food For The Poor also operates in many other Caribbean and Latin American countries.

The matching arrangement with Florida is an example of diaspora-linked giving at scale: money raised in Kingston is doubled by the charity’s Florida arm. For churches, it shows how a community event can fund real homes. For Jamaicans abroad who want their giving to go further, supporting a matched fund means each dollar raised at home can build more. And for families on the waiting list, many of them headed by single mothers according to Mahfood, the difference is a secure roof.