Published On: Mon, Jul 21st, 2014

South Florida Non-Profit Uses World Cup to Help Orphans in Haiti

GAF

By: Quezia Salgado 

Global Assistance Foundation is a non-profit South Florida organization that envisions ways of making a difference in the world, while leaving a legacy of love and compassion to future generations. With its inception in 2010, under the leadership of Silair Almeida and a group of concerned friends, GAF goes to areas of the world that have been neglected such as the slums of Haiti and Brazil. They develop programs of assistance to the communities by providing them with food, school supplies and tutoring for the children. There are literacy classes for adults as well as medical/dental care and leadership training. GAF’s goal is to open doors to a better future for people caught in lives of despair due to poverty, lack of proper nutrition, education, or leadership, and to ultimately see communities transformed into vibrant places of hope and security.

GAF believes that the best way to assist underdeveloped communities is to sit down with their leaders to hear their dreams for the future and then commit to walk along side of them and help them see these dreams fulfilled, empowering them as they realize that they are not alone.

As part of one of their projects in Haiti, GAF decided to use the momentum generated by the World Cup to organize the Solidary Cup, a food drive to collect cans of powdered milk. The milk will then be sent to Haiti and distributed in the three orphanages supported by the group to feed over 125 orphan children. The drive was held at the foundation’s headquarters in Pompano Beach, where live streaming of the World Cup games brought in an average of 400 to 500 soccer fanatics for each game. There was no admission charge for the events, and instead, attendees were encouraged to bring in cans of powdered milk. Since the opening game the foundation was able to collect 1,607 cans – a total of 1,274lb of milk.

An enthusiastic attendee and supporter of the foundation Claudia Bohrer says, “this was an amazing thing we were able to do, the outcome was great and people really supported our cause.”

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