Food for Orphans
Food for Orphans supplies the funds to purchase food for orphans around the world. Usually, food is purchased locally in their village, but sometimes we ship the food to the orphan project. We are currently feeding orphans in Asia, Africa, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
We seek out and evaluate new orphan care projects that need assistance in providing food to hungry orphans. Our goal is to make sure that every orphan receives at least one nutritious meal per day.
Food for Orphans provides assistance and food to orphans that truly need help. That means we fund feeding programs in mostly poor third-world countries. We seek out those orphan care programs that have exhibited the ability and history to care effectively for the needs of orphans, yet struggle to provide the necessary food. From the orphan care providers, we require project financial accountability, monthly reports, updates on the condition of the orphans, and unlimited access to the project.
To supply at least one nutritious meal per day to as many orphans as possible.
Gary VanDyke, Food for Orphans' founder and CEO, began helping orphans in 1999. As the father of five, Gary has always had a heart for the needs of children. But in 1999, he visited several children's projects in Lima, Peru and as he tells it, "To watch the pain of these children's suffering was impossible for me to bear. My life was changed forever."
Gary worked with a charity that helped needy children and orphans around the world. While there, Gary visited the international projects, evaluated their needs, helped to train the staff, and communicated the children's needs to people back home. As he visited more and more orphans, Gary was touched by their helplessness and innocence. He was constantly wounded by the poor health and physical condition of the orphans he met. When asked what their biggest challenge was, orphan caregivers repeatedly said "The lack of food."
Gary knew that he could not continue to stand immobile while orphans starved. Knowing that something had to be done, he began to create an organization that would address the orphans most pressing and urgent need ? food.
In 2007, Food for Orphans was officially incorporated. Our staff has vast experience and history in caring for needy children, visiting orphan homes, evaluating children's projects, training orphan care providers, measuring the needs of orphans, and sharing our advice with the orphan care providers.
