FH Canada, formerly Canadian Food for the Hungry International, is part of the global Food for the Hungry (FH) network, a Christian international development agency dedicated to ending poverty worldwide. With partners and sponsors across Canada, FH walks alongside vulnerable communities throughout the developing world as they strive toward sustainability. Recognizing that each community faces unique challenges as well as advantages, FH is committed to an integrated, holistic approach to development including priorities such as agriculture, education, health, livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, and gender equality.
FH believes in facilitating innovative, long-term solutions and providing everyone an opportunity to join in the pursuit of a poverty-free world. FH Canada currently partners with communities in Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Rwanda, and Uganda. Partnerships usually last around 10 years, at which point communities graduate as self-sufficient and often begin to help their neighbouring communities make the same transformation.
The organization also has a domestic mandate in Canada, serving to collaborate with other like-minded poverty alleviation organizations and offering worldview training workshops to equip Canadians to effectively respond to poverty both at home and abroad.
Leadership
The international Food for the Hungry (FH) network was founded in 1971 by American Dr. Larry Ward. FH Canada (originally called "Canadian Food for the Hungry") was founded in 1994, and stands as an independent, registered charity in Canada governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, who oversee the organization's President and CEO. David Collins, a former pastor and missionary in Vietnam and the Philippines, was FH Canada's first president, holding the position until 2005. Ben Hoogendoorn, a businessman in the agricultural industry, joined FH Canada as a volunteer in 1997, then in 2001 began working with the organization as Director of International Operations. He became interim president in 2005, and officially accepted the role of President and CEO in 2006. In 2014, Ben passed the torch to business owner and philanthropist Bernie Willock, who led the organization for nearly three years. Shawn Plummer joined FH Canada in 2010 as the Director of Partnerships, and in 2017 Shawn was chosen to succeed as President and CEO. In 2023, Musu Taylor-Lewis was appointed as FH Canada's new President and CEO.
Activities
FH Canada will often support communities in the following areas:
Education
Health and nutrition
Agriculture
Leadership development
Income generation
Environmental sustainability
Gender equality
International Medical Equipment Distribution (IMED)
In 2001, there was an addition of a regional office in Saskatchewan which runs the International Medical Equipment Distribution Program (IMED), a program that collects, refurbishes and ships used hospital equipment to hospitals that don't have access to sufficient equipment. IMED is also involved in the shipment of food and other supplies to relief situations when needed. In more recent years, the stream of medical equipment flowing from Canadian hospitals slows and shipping becomes prohibitively difficult. Simultaneously, an escalation in natural and man-made disasters reshapes the immediate needs of those trapped in poverty. In 2017, the IMED program was gently shut down and the warehouse sold. Perceiving another timely opportunity, and getting back to its roots and expertise as a humanitarian aid organization, FH Canada expanded its efforts to bring relief to hurting families. “In light of the unparalleled suffering we see today, we want to engage the world of relief with a mind toward long-term development strategies.” -Lindsay Brucks, former Director of IMED
In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the field of hunger relief, the term hunger is used in a sense that goes beyond the common desire for food that all humans experience, also known as an appetite. The most extreme form of hunger, when malnutrition is widespread, and when people have started dying of starvation through lack of access to sufficient, nutritious food, leads to a declaration of famine.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1942 after amalgamating with the similar Emergency Rescue Committee, the IRC provides emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster. The IRC is currently working in about 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities where it resettles refugees and helps them become self-sufficient. It focuses mainly on health, education, economic wellbeing, power, and safety.
Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation (OB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization founded in the United States. Beginning in 1978, OBI has worked in more than 90 countries and throughout the U.S. Implementing programs that provide disaster relief, medical aid, clean water, hunger relief, community development and orphan care, Operation Blessing is governed by a national board of directors.
CARE is a major international humanitarian agency delivering emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded in 1945, CARE is nonsectarian, impartial, and non-governmental. It is one of the largest and oldest humanitarian aid organizations focused on fighting global poverty. In 2019, CARE reported working in 104 countries, supporting 1,349 poverty-fighting projects and humanitarian aid projects, and reaching over 92.3 million people directly and 433.3 million people indirectly.
Famine relief is an organized effort to reduce starvation in a region in which there is famine. A famine is a phenomenon in which a large proportion of the population of a region or country are so undernourished that death by starvation becomes increasingly common. In spite of the much greater technological and economic resources of the modern world, famine still strikes many parts of the world, mostly in the developing nations.
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is an international non-governmental organization that focuses on sustainable development projects and disaster relief and recovery. The organization was founded in 1945 to collect and send aid to people living in post-World War II Europe. Today, LWR helps communities living in extreme poverty adapt to the challenges that threaten their livelihoods and well-being, and responds to emergencies with a long-term view. It is a member of the Corus International family of faith-based international development organizations, which include IMA World Health, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and LWR Farmers Market Coffee.
Heifer International is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer International distributes animals, along with agricultural and values-based training, to families in need around the world as a means of providing self-sufficiency. Recipients must agree to "pass on the gift" by donating animal offspring, as well as sharing the skills and knowledge of animal husbandry and agricultural training with other impoverished families in the community. The organization receives financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BlackRock, Cargill, Mastercard Foundation, Walmart and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the global humanitarian aid and development organization of the United Methodist Church (UMC). UMCOR is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization operated under the auspices of the General Board of Global Ministries. One hundred percent of donations are directed to an earmarked project or relief effort. Administrative expenses are funded by an annual offering collected by United Methodist churches on UMCOR Sunday.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Human Concern International (HCI) is a Canadian federally registered charitable non-governmental organization (NGO) working in international development and emergency relief assistance since 1980.
Founded in 1994, Alternatives, Action and Communication Network for International Development, is a non-governmental, international solidarity organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Humanity First is an international charity that provides disaster relief and long term development assistance to vulnerable communities in 52 countries across 6 continents. The organisation is run by volunteers with diverse skillsets across the world and has access to thousands of extra volunteers worldwide. Volunteer staff in all areas often pay their own expenses to support the international projects.
Food for the Hungry is a Christian international relief, development, and advocacy organization. Food for the Hungry was founded in 1971 by Larry Ward. Food for the Hungry's stated mission for long-term development is to graduate communities of extreme poverty within 10–15 years. The organization also works in disaster relief and humanitarian response, including working with the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) is a humanitarian agency engaged in community development, refugee resettlement, emergency relief, basic commodity shipments, volunteer placement and alternative trade. It classifies its activities as falling into four main areas: humanitarian response, food security and livelihoods, education and skills training, and refugee resettlement. While strengthening food security and economic development, CLWR subscribes to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in planning community development and has declared a commitment everywhere to environmental protection, gender equality, organizational strengthening and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Episcopal Relief & Development is an international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church. It was established in 1940 as the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. Episcopal Relief and Development works in approximately 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, and the Middle East. They build partnerships with local Episcopal and Anglican dioceses and related organizations based on need, capacity and available resources.
International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES) is a 501c3 non-profit organization based in Noblesville, Indiana, United States that seeks to meet the physical and spiritual needs of suffering people around the world in the name of Jesus Christ. The organization is primarily funded by Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. Much of its relief effort is done through local churches and missionaries already in place in the countries needing assistance.
Cuso International is a Canadian international development organization that connects communities around the world with skilled Canadians to help end poverty and inequality. Established in 1961, Cuso International has deployed more than 15,000 volunteers and has worked in more than 100 countries on long-term development projects.
Climate change in Bangladesh is a critical issue as the country is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In the 2020 edition of Germanwatch's Climate Risk Index, it ranked seventh in the list of countries most affected by climate calamities during the period 1999–2018. Bangladesh's vulnerability to climate change impacts is due to a combination of geographical factors, such as its flat, low-lying, and delta-exposed topography, and socio-economic factors, including its high population density, levels of poverty, and dependence on agriculture.
MAP International is a Christian nonprofit organization based out of Brunswick, Georgia. Their mission is to provide medicines and health supplies to those in need around the world so they might experience life to the fullest. MAP serves all people regardless of religion, gender, race, nationality, or ethnic background. As a global health organization, they carry out work in the broad programmatic areas of disease prevention and treatment, disaster relief, and medical missions support, with the goal of bringing health and hope to the 2 billion people worldwide who do not have access to basic healthcare.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
