Convoy Of Hope Continues Relief Efforts In Haiti With Grant

Springfield, Mo. -- The Kellogg Foundation recently granted $377,927 to Convoy of Hope to help the organization with its relief and recovery work in Haiti following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake earlier this year.

"Since the earthquake struck we have distributed more than 8.5 million meals," says Jeff Nene, senior director -- communications and technology for Convoy of Hope. "We have also installed large-scale Culligan water purification units in Port-au-Prince and will continue to distribute thousands of water purification units and hygiene kits to families in the capital and surrounding areas."

According to Nene, Convoy of Hope has a three-year recovery strategy for Haiti, which will include the promotion of a community stabilization initiative that will continue to meet the basic needs of thousands of impoverished children and families.

The initiative will include the continued distribution of food, water purification units and the re-establishment of schools damaged in the earthquake where Convoy of Hope was feeding more than 11,000 schoolchildren daily before the earthquake.

Because Convoy of Hope has had a nutrition/education program in Haiti for the past three years and has a warehouse just north of Port-au-Prince it is well positioned to meet continued emergency and long-term needs in the country.

"It will be a long road to recovery for Haiti," admits Nene, "but we are confident the grant from the Kellogg Foundation has helped us help many families regain their footing and put their lives back together."

The grant is retroactive to January and will run through July of this year.

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Convoy of Hope, founded in 1994, is a faith based organization with a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreaches, disaster response and partner resourcing.

Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa.