At any given time, there are 20,000 children in the world who are benefiting from a Langley-based charity.
Using buildings built for cows, Canadian Food for Children’s B.C. division collects bulk dried food and folds hospital linens in readiness to be shipped anywhere in the world.
Currently, the countries experiencing the greatest need are Haiti, Kenya, Somalia and South Africa.
Two months ago, when typhoon Washi struck the Philippines, swollen rivers burst their banks, resulting in widespread flooding and landslides. Villages and towns were destroyed or badly damaged. More than 1,250 people died.
Thanks to the efforts of Canadian Food for Children, a shipment containing 100,000 pounds of food was delivered to the devastated settlements.
A year before, 50,000 pounds of split peas, oatmeal, flour, cream of wheat and sugar were sent to refugee camps in Somalia and an orphanage in Kenya.
From the generosity of individuals and companies across the country, Canadian Food for Children buys bulk food and hospital linens. These supplies are sorted and packaged by a team of volunteers.
“No one gets paid,” said Joseph Krentz, who has been president of the CFC’s division in B.C. since 1998. The society began in B.C. in White Rock in 1990.
A non-denominational society, Canadian Food for Children is currently negotiating with the Canadian Dairy Commission so that it can secure shipments of powdered milk.
Unfortunately, despite the generous undertaking of the society, children are dying of hunger and hunger-related diseases at a head-spinning rate.
Every 3.5 seconds, someone dies of hunger, and every single day 29,000 people die as a direct result of hunger or a related sickness.
That’s why Canadian Food for Children is sending out another SOS for more help. Krentz is asking individuals or companies who are able to donate to the society to do so through the website: www.canadianfoodforchildren.org.
Volunteers are often in demand, and the current need is for people who can help fold hospital linens. People who would like to help are asked to call the society at 604 534-4544.
Krentz added that the society ships directly to the areas where help is needed, and does not work through government agencies in the recipient countries.